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- Name: sh
- Location: Singapore
a little thing i'm trying out, with lyrics from songs and images from the web, piecing them together to put on this page.
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a little thing i'm trying out, with lyrics from songs and images from the web, piecing them together to put on this page.
When a region in the U.S. is hit by a disaster, the local and the state authorities take charge. If they are overwhelmed, they ask the federal government for help and they cooperate at all three levels.So, amidst the sufferings, starvations, living in hell with dead bodies around you, all squashed up in a convention centre, the ones who can help continue their little game of finger-pointing. Instead of trying to resolve it all, and co-operate for once. For the sake of the fellow citizens. For the sake of the fellow Americans. For the sake of your own god damn countrymen, women and children alike, wake up and realise it's about time to get them the help they need.
Unfortunately, when Katrina struck, that cooperation dissolved in acrimony and they all worked at cross-purposes.
Thus, to the chagrin of President Bush, Mayor Nagin delayed evacuating New Orleans until just 24 hours before Katrina struck.
And the dilatory Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco waited four days before sending in the National Guard, which was under her jurisdiction.
Late on Friday, a furious President Bush tried to overried Ms Blanco and take charge of the guard, but she stood firm. That caused relations between them to plummet, much to the dtriment of the victims, especially when Mr Bush then dallied over sending in the military.
Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu then chastised Mr Bush for ignoring the earlier warnings to bolster the sea walls that protected New Orleans.
She even threatened to "punch" Mr Bush for trying to put the blame on the local and state authorities. As officials squabbled, the plight of the victims worsened.
Their loss of faith in authority contributed to the sense of despair and lawlessness. That in turn was exacerbated by charges of dishonesty and ineptitude.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper noted that while the government said it could not get supplies to the victims, the paper's own staff as well as numerous TV reporters got in.
In an "open letter" to President Bush, the paper said: "Despite the city's multiple points of entry, our nation's bureaucrats spent days after last week's hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city's stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies."
posted by sh @ 10:05 am
8 Comments:
guess that's what's so disturbing. the whole lack of efficient help. this event could definitely have been prevented from causing this extent of damage. this is in america for crying out loud, it's a world superpower, not some third world country.
precisely. them responding slowly to the tsunami was nearly understandable. it's a day after christmas and it's halfway around the world. furthermore it isn't 'their' people that's victimised.
but here it is, at their very doorstep. there were signs, yet again, response still is slow. the canadian army responds to the victims of the katrina even quicker than the american army. and we wonder why.
i think students would learn this in modern world history 10 years later.
the causes, consequences etc.
the failure of the govt to provide efficient help.
hahaha!
actually, if you look at the timeline, the americans responded faster to the tsunami than to this disaster.
also, i believe the straits times is kissing bush's ass again, and painting him in a much better light than he deserves.
bush was not 'chagrined' when nagin only ordered evacuation 24 hours before, he was on HOLIDAY. after the disaster condi rice was apparently shoe shopping in new york. the photo ops of bush with the food distribution centres was staged beyond any kind of belief, and bush has been the one steadily decimating the FEMA as well as the budget of the US Army Corps of Engineers, who asked for $27 million to deal with this problem, bush's administration budgeted for $4 million, and in the end they only got 6.
the mayor and governor perhaps were not as prepared as they should have been, but that doesn't mean that bush had the slightest clue what was going on or what to do, he just has his PR team spinning things as fast as they can.
haha audrey, we'll be part of the history!
lianne, i know! he was on flipping holiday when there were weather signs, but nooo, we don't see them being made use of, do we? he obviously knew what was going on, but chose to turn a blind eye to it.
until it happened, and its late, and he still doesnt respond quick enough, and is being ostracised by the rest of the world, then here he is finger-pointing. very wise guy.
and that's just sad. right up to their doorstep, and taking forever to respond. even when the ones involved are people of the same nationality.
i agree that they responded to the tsunami faster to this. and condi rice shoe shopping is just plain ridiculous.
a failed government, that's what it is. so much for being one of the most advanced and powerful country in the world.
this might just cost them their reputation. oh wait, what am i saying? they already have a bad reputation to begin with.
this is just downright stupid.it's not a wonder why everyone's enraged.
they feel it costs them their reputation. bush thinks its tarnishing his (already bad) reputation that's why he decides to do the little finger-pointing game. and that's gonna make it less tarnished. yea, who is he kidding.
"My fellow Americans..."
work it out, mr bush.
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