Just heard this on TV news.

Police officers are being diverted away from search and rescue efforts in order to prevent looting!

Is property now more important than human life?

Well Doc, I suppose it could be argued that the rescue mission could be hampered by a breakdown in law and order.

Especially if the looters have guns, which I've heard many do, and start to prey on the survivors.

"The more you understand freedom, the less you possess it."
- John Fowles' The Magus

This is worrying. What is the world coming to?

Mick

This is getting out of control. They're shooting at the military now! I know their lives are in turmoil, but why bite the hand that's trying to feed you. I knew this was all too much for people to bear.

Wow, what a dangerous mix. Desparate people and guns. Would the NRA stand behind the "right to bear arms" in these circumstances. These gun-toters might argue that having the gun helps them survive.

Just heard this morning (I suppose not surprisingly) that many many people haven't eaten since this disaster; have no communication and don't know that help is on it's way. I wonder if many of us can truly imagine the horror that these victims are going through?

They say they think the loss of lives will be in the thousands. I feel so badly for all these people.


TIS

Sadly, many of these are people who chose to remain in or near their homes to 'wait it out', instead of heading warnings to get out of the area before Katrina hit.

While I'm sure there are many who simply had no place to go, there are still many more who may have though it might be 'fun' to take shelter in the SuperDome, not imagining the detioration of surroundings, mind & spirit that would eventually take its toll.

I've seen several tv interviews over the past few days of residents who sent their families out of town but stayed behind to 'watch the house' and now regret their decision.

Apple

I have never understood why people want to stay when warned of a possible disaster. I know when I lived in Michigan and there was a tornado warning, I immediately took the kids and went to the basement. There never was a tornado, but I didn't want to take the chance.

If it were possible to predict an earthquake, and one was coming to my area, I'd immediately head out of state. Of course, I'd hate to lose everything I own and end up with nothing, but it's just not worth the chance to me. Guess I'm a chicken sh*t.

I'll tell you again, this disaster (along with all the other hurricaines lately) has really made me think more and more about this possibly being the beginning of a string of "natural" disasters and the possiblity of a major quake here.

TIS

I believe that sort of thinking is called intelligence...

Read on Dr. ...................


Now do you understand? It has NOTHING to do with property being more important than life.


Don Cardi

Sadly many of those people could not afford, financially that is, to go anywhere. And many did not have anywhere to go to. How sad is that?

This whole thing is just making me sick. I just cannot imagine being in that situation. Think about it, Imagine losing EVERYTHING that you've worked hard to get all your life! Then really putting it into perspective I don't even want to imagine losing anyone from my family to this! Devastating.


Don Cardi

Sadly many of those people could not afford, financially that is, to go anywhere. And many did not have anywhere to go to. How sad is that?


Don Cardi [/b][/quote]I don't recall warnings that said the levees could possibly break, or it was not stressed. If the govt. thought that this was a possibility, mandatory evacuation should have been conducted by the govt/military to avoid these horrendous conditions. Hindsight is always great, but in this case they grossly underestimated the potential and the ramifications. For people with the financial and logistical means, evacuation was feasible. For many evacuation was not an option without govt. help.

Lets see, we need more troops that need to immediately take back what is left of the city, we don't have enough vehicles at the moment, and now impoverished people running lawlessly with stolen automatic weapons firing at our military.

Umm, didn't I just see this last week on TV when it was happening in Iraq?

"An additional 10,000 National Guard troops from across the country were ordered into the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast to shore up security, rescue and relief operations in Katrina's wake. That brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the biggest military response to a natural disaster in U.S. history. "

Wow, the War on Hurricanes is becoming quite serious...

"Eyewitness: Sec of State Condi Rice laughs it up at 'Spamalot' while Gulf Coast lays in tatters. Theater goers on New York' City's Great White Way were shocked to see the President's former National Security Advisor at the Monty Python farce last night -- as the rest of the cabinet responds to Hurricane Katrina..."

I guess she had an excuse note signed by her mother or something. :rolleyes:

No place for your jokes like that in this thread ronnie. leave it over in the other thread. In case you didn't realize it, this is a very serious and scary situation. Grow the hell up.


Don Cardi

Ya jeez sorry. Figured with the rather depressing news, a joke was needed to lighten up the please. Anyway sorry again.

And stop trying to politcize a very sad and serious situation. You don't know where or when to draw the line. Cut the bullshit.


Don Cardi

Is this a joke to you or what?


DS

The majority of the looting is people going into empty shops and taking goods, not "preying on survivors" (as in confronting them personally) - that's mugging, not looting.

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/...amp;storylist=n jkatrina

Do the police arrest these people, with their loot? Or do they press on with the task of evacuating the area safely?

Don Smitty, look at DRUDGEREPORT's website....

Dr. - The damn authorities are getting shot at due to the looting of gun shops, etc. There cannot be any rescue effort if those trying to do the recusing are being shot at. We are not talking of restoring order for those stealing bread, water or milk, we are talking about those stealing guns and using them against the rescuers.

What's so hard about understanding this?


Don Cardi

A SCENE OF ANARCHY

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/scene.blog/index.html

Some of the looting is necessary though. A lot of the people are getting non-essentials though. I heard a Wal-Mart's gun section was cleared out. And this is exactly why I hate fucking guns. Why does there need to be guns in a Wal-Mart in one of the most populated cities in the US? Where are they going to go and hunt? The French Quarter? :rolleyes:

Sorry to seem dumb, but why are American citizens shooting at their own national guard and police who are trying to rescue them?

I'm having a hard time understandig this. Perhaps you can explain it to me DC.

Dr. -

I have no real answer as to why people would shoot at someone trying to rescue them. There are several reasons that I can think of, and purely speculation; The first reason being that maybe those who are shooting want to continue to loot without any interference from the authorities. The second reason could be that the people doing the shooting are angry because they feel that the local government representatives and the local authorities were either corupt or negligent in NOT using the funds allocated to them by the federal government to maintain the levees and the pumping systems. Those leevves were only built to withstand a category three hurricane, and now there is speculation that those levees and pumping systems were never maintained. Or maybe it's just simply that these people have lost their minds after living this way for all these days. It's a mystery to me as to why they shot at the authorities and these are the only logical reasons that I can think of.


Don Cardi

Maybe because people actually go on hunting trips, coincidentally, which one of my good friends just got back from. :rolleyes: (smilie for added emphasis and a harumph for good measure for my friend Don_Andrew).

Although I fail to see how it is the fault of the gun, or Wal-Mart, for carrying guns, that people are going nucking futs and shooting each other at this point.

Well, it's not really Wal-Mart's fault if they wanna carry guns or not. Umm, I don't see how Wal-Mart could've seen this coming... "Oh, let's take all our guns off the shelves, because there is a biblical storm coming and there will be looters!"

I really don't think they expected that. As for the looters who are stealing electronics, they are just stupid theives. Where the hell are they going? :rolleyes: But, as for the looters who have stolen foods and supplies, I just frankly say, hey, do it. Our government didn't do a good job at all.

To be quite frank, and this is NOT meant to start a political debate, I was deeply angered and offended by President Bush's comments today telling people that, if they need food and water, not to resort to crime, but to be patient because they will get it soon. SOON??? What good is that going to do if you're children are dirty and hungry and thirsty?? If DAYS have gone by and you have no clean diapers or formula or even water for your 3 week old infant, like the man I saw crying on TV with his baby in his arms. I would steal and cheat and perhaps kill if I had no other choice, rather than watch my child die in front of my eyes. I pray to God that they just get this into gear.