Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: Katrina and World Support?

>>Here is the entire transcript of the news conference on Thursday, the 1st with Mr. Chertoff.

Wow... totally different picture from what the media is portraying. I wonder which story is closer to the truth ?

I did notice a BBC transmission late last night which focused on the fact that there were tens of thousands of people stranded in the Superdome with zero relief so far, even after other news programs had been showing pictures of a largely empty Superdome (other than the wrapped up bodies), everyone having been taken away on buses.

Here is a post from AV123, from a gent from New Orleans. He has actual first hand accounts from talking to local law enforcement :

In reply to:

---

I wanted to chime in here regarding the looting and the media's coverage of it. All the news stations I've been watching are downplaying the chaos the looting and lawlessness are really creating. Many of the things I have been told by the parish sheriff and his deputies is not making it onto the national newscasts. We are now receiving local New Orleans newscasts and they are starting to report about some of these incidences. I just finished watching a local N.O. newscast and the reporter was interviewing a N.O. police officer. In the midst of the interview automatic gunfire was directed at the news crew and officer. The interview was continued several minutes later once the situation was resolved. The police officer reported that they were able to spot muzzle flashes on one of the subsequent bursts and placed several shots in the area to neutralize the threat. This activity is going around all over the metropolitan area. A number of police officers have been shot and killed. The vast majority of this is not being reported. I have been told of many incidents like the one above (and worse) that are not being reported.

---

The early lessons I have drawn from this disaster so far, are:

#1 AS a society, we must no longer coddle criminals, turn a blind eye to deliberate social misfits, who have no interest in anything constructive, make excuses for any, and all bad behavior.......or we will have many, many, more "bad people" looting, and shooting at responders. We must at ALL times, fairly enforce our laws, or Eventually, they will be EVERYWHERE, lurking in the shadows, waiting to make any bad situation worse.

#2 AS a country, we need to produce more industrial goods to sell the world, as we used to do....to generate the kind of economic might needed to quickly respond ($$$$$) to ANY tragedy......all we ever talk about in the economic vein, is our economy.... look how from the slightest thing... to a war, to a catastrophy effects it in a huge, negative way. (no wonder the terrorists target our economy with their attacks). we had better wake up, and quit telling the world we're a super power....until we get our "house of cards" economy on sure footing.

Had a bit of fun today with a bad situation.

Bounced through cable news, network to network, including whatever I could find elsewhere. And the predictable happened!

Whatever your political bent or moral affiliation; you can find the news that fits your needs!

One says the govt is all screwed up, another leaves you with the impression that Yes, the govt is all screwed up but at least is trying. Yet a third says the govt isn't all screwed up, but just misunderstood.

And anywhere inbetween. I paid little attention to what I was watching; just stopped the clicker when I saw crowds of desperate people, and listened to the "tone".

It still made me sad, reguardless.



Hmmmm.....let me add a comment here. I actually prefer to collect and analyze data, not editorialize.

Wow, what a thread. Some pretty disturbing comments, accusations and incredibly ridiculous assumptions going on here……never assume anything. There’s always three different sides to every situation and conversation.

In a time of crisis, I would have hoped that this audience would have the intelligence to weed out the crap and look at the situation from a broader perspective. There is always massive chaos during these times, regardless of the global location. This one just happens to be in the US.

I’m a project manager and am simply amazed at the progress made with regards to the N.O. relief effort. It’s not a simple thing to plan, coordinate and implement any project - of any size. For sake of simplicity, I’ll refer to all efforts in N.O. a project. This project is immense in size of incalculable proportions. It is incredibly complex and will involve more departments in government, more unique and specific crafts and trades, professions, organizations, companies, corporations, managers, supervisors, individual contributors than any one of us could ever possibly imagine. It’s mind blowing to me when I actually think about how I would manage something like this. You need to remove the emotions and really try to look at this differently to put things into perspective. Just take a moment and think about it as if you were in charge. And also take into consideration that rescue personnel are getting shot at!!!

All this banter about the US refusing aid is also made without looking at the situation without emotion. It takes one person to change a light bulb. Ten folks would only delay the work and cause confusion. Plus, wasted energy that can be put to better use elsewhere as needed. To rush into anything without direction and order will only create more chaos. You also need to remember that this country is at war with terrorist. Don’t you think they are currently planning and scheming to take advantage of this tragedy to only further their “cause”. You’re fools to think otherwise.

Media – all media is biased and only report what to them is “news worthy”, with their prejudices. None of them are accurate - none. To argue over which one is telling the truth is pointless. I served 85-91, and I’ve been there on the ground dodging bullets in numerous countries when the reporters were telling their tales and putting their twists on the events. We actually looked forward to some amusement when we’d sit down and watch the news coverage after the operation was complete. I’ve never, not once seen a news report or special on the discovery channel that was any where close to being accurate of the events that I was directly in the middle of.

And to rip on Craig for being specific with his monetary contribution was not called for. He mentioned the amount to quantify his sincerity and support, nothing more than that. The number wasn’t meant to make anyone feel inferior or to boast. It was a way for him to communicate the worth and personal sacrifice of his pledge to the relief effort. He’s a business man. Businessmen need to put a monetary number to everything for it to have meaning and a ranking to them. Others, such as a tradesman, communicate their worth and value in terms of what they do. They work with their hands, so when they communicate worth and value, it is in the way of “doing something”. So why the hell not tell everyone how much?? Everyone knows that he’s not living off food stamps and you all also should be big enough to admit that $20 isn’t going to make any of you live off rice and beans for two weeks. $20 would be insignificant to him, but I bet the 10K that he donated is a substantial hit to his family. He may have a sizable income, but he ain’t filthy rich either. If he was, do you think he’d be buying internet speakers? No, wealthy folks don’t buy on-line, they have things made for them just so they match the new gold slippers on their lap dogs with $500 hair cuts. I applaud him for donating that amount and only wish I could. Had he just stated that he made a donation, my thought would have been “so what, so did I”. The amount put substance behind it that I can understand and appreciate. If someone living from paycheck to paycheck who is having trouble buying school clothes for their kids told me $20, I would then think, “way to go, I know that hurt”. But if Craig were to have donated that, I’d say, “big deal you cheap bastard”.

If you got it to give, give – along with some prayer. If you don’t, then give your prayers. But please don’t bash those who can, and do give.

By the way ... This was actually the Fox News opening headline :

" NEW ORLEANS — To cries of "Thank you Jesus!" and catcalls of "What took you so long?," a National Guard convoy packed with food, water and medicine rolled through axle-deep floodwaters Friday into what remained of New Orleans and descended into a maelstrom of fires and floating corpses. "

And this was CNN :

""Diane Sylvester, 49, was the first person through the line, and she emerged with two bottles of water and a pork rib meal. “Something is better than nothing,” she said as she mopped sweat from her brow. “I feel great to see the military here. I know I’m saved.”"

Funny how reality is different than people's recall of what they heard yesterday ...

Mdrew - First, Thank You. And for all those who have followed this, Mark Johnson PM'ed me, and we had a nice exchange.

Mdrew makes a VERY valid point. ANY amount given is important. Here is what I had posted in the Tsunami thread about amounts :

In reply to:

---

Much appreciated... and if someone only can afford $1 ... it just does not matter ... this is from the heart from us all...

---

This was in response to a person who had contributed. And it does not matter the actual amount. It is wanting to help that matters.

Hey all, I'm going to give a little more myself. Until the 15th of this month and perhaps longer, I'm going to give 25% from various products that I sell to the Red Cross. This is not a shameless plug so please don't bash me for it. My wife and I had a long chat about this last night. Being we are not wealthy people, I can only give so much cash, but what I can do is forgo the profit and then some on my power cords and donate it all to the Red Cross. I will personally be kicking in around 10% on every one sold. I also threw a few on E-Bay where 100% of the selling price will go to the Red Cross.

If this is out of line, let me know and I will email Amie to delete my post. Seeing as how AV123, Outlaw and others are doing it, I felt compelled to do it. I can't do it on the same scale, but at least it's something.

It should be noted that the 25% will be on non competing products from Axiom. Power cords etc. Those that are regulars here know that I don't promote my side business in these or any other forums and I'm not starting now......I just figured I needed to do a little more.

I may take this one step further. I just picked up a 1 owner perfect condition Rotel RMB-1075. I'm willing to give the money to charity. Perhaps a draw of some kind? Buy tickets for $25.00 or whatever and all proceeds go to the Red Cross or some other charity? Maybe I'm getting carried away but I'm willing to do it.

NeverHappy ... Nice Idea ! Can you link to your site ?