Fuck me, the arrogance is almost breath taking.
Seems more appropriate, somehow.
Only joking though folks, in reality I'm very anti-hurricanes, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if Katrina was part of an Al Qaeda cell hell bent on the destruction of the US way of life.
38 comments:
Our Tsunami. I read that yesterday. FUCKWITS!!! FUCKWITS!!! I feel bad for those surviving and those who lost loved ones as always, but MY FUCKING GOD. A TSUNAMI WAS UNEXPECTED. THEY HAD PLENTY OF WARNING AND KNEW THEY WERE LIVING UNDER THE FUCKING OCEAN. **UNDER**. **THE**. **FUCKING**. **OCEAN**.
They also had FUCKING ENGINEERS DESIGN FAULTY SYSTEMS. They had MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to prevent this stupidity, which were WASTED. Let's see, most of the asian locations hit were DIRT POOR.
How dare they call it their tsunami.
ha, ha, ha...
:-)
What do you expect if you build a city below sea level in a hurricane zone. 'Spose they can always blame the French; it was their idea in the first place.
America is just unsafe, what with Los Angeles sitting on top of a fault just aching to topple a few skyscrapers, and tornados getting ready to whisk trailer park trash off to the land of Oz.
All those guns are a bit superfluous, you're gonna get wasted anyway.
i was appalled the first time i read that as well Herge. there is no doubt this is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the US in a long time, but lets just take a moment to consider....possibly a couple hundred of lives lost to Hurricane Katrina in the US, a QUARTER OF A MILLION lives lost to the tsunami. somehow there isn't much of a comparison, is there?
hmmm, don't know, we got the tail end of it here in canada, but I do feel for those in Louisiana, regardless of American ideal of being the only country in the world worth talking about, I feel badly for them
Thank you Rowan. A nice sentiment in a world that seems to hate America (not neccesarily referring to this blog...)
I wouldn't say that I hate America, considering I live here. I just believe our imperious ignorance is hurtful to people who have been through much more.
People in New Orleans have lost their homes, and that is tragic, but people in Thailand lost their lives in an instant. Over 100,000 lives. Children were orphaned in seconds. Very different from Hurricane Katrina.
I heard this yesterday and proceeded to yell at the television. I've forgotten now which local political imbecile said it.
First, this is absolutely horrible, but a few hundred people dead and a few hundred thousand people dead are not the same. Unless of course, you happen to be one of those who believes that it is the same because these were American lives as opposed to Asian. Don't think there aren't people who think that way, but no matter what morons think, it's not true.
Second, why should we have to compare these things anyway? I don't need some mayor or governor to come on the news and compare this to the tsunami to understand that it sucks. 80% of New Orleans is under water. I think that helps me figure it out right there. They are different events and will never, ever be comparable because they each impact different people in different ways.
For the record, I was born in SouthEast Asia, still have family there, and yeah the Tsunami was scary. But I became an American citizen because I love and cherish the *ideals* upon which this country was formed (mind you, not the *circumstances* -- I have weeped for the plight of the natives hundreds of years ago).
I still hate the morons who spout stupid sound bites, however.
Well I suppose we can wait and gauge our true reactions according to what Oprah says about it. Oh, and whether the 6o'clock news develops a theme song for it. That's how you know it's really serious.
Even for those that didn't heed warnings, I feel heartbroken. People whose spouses were swept away or died while waiting to be rescued. People who were with you one minute and the next minute, floating face-down past you in the water. All the helpless animals who probably died because they couldn't be (or weren't) evacuated.
The remnants of Katrina swept by late last night/early this morning. Root Beer was especially clingy during that time. Sitting right beside me or leaning on me or putting his head on my lap. Maybe he sensed the weather. I should have told him that out of anything in the apartment [my roommate and] I would have saved him first. (It's true.)
I'm trying REALLY REALLY hard to feel bad....BUT
-Someone told you to get the HELL out of Dodge, Dodge being a HUGE city that is under sea level, as well as other COASTAL towns and cities. So what do you do? Why, you stay home, vowing no storm will budge you. NO SOUP FOR YOU.
-People have been telling you for YEARS this WILL happen. You didn't listen or prepare for it. NO SOUP FOR YOU
-"We Will Rebuild!" NO SOUP FOR YOU EITHER! You shouldn't be allowed to rebuild there you ignorant morons.
Free will is a bitch, and ignoring it is just plain wrong. You had a chance to get the fuck out of the way. You didn't. Don't look at me for answers.
At least some of the dumber people have likely been removed from the gene pool....
And Jay's bit about the news theme song's is SOOOOO bang on.....
just because we are Americans doesn't mean we have all the answers. Neither does it mean that we are immune to loss and pain. Just because it doesn't happen to "you" doesn't mean that it isn't worth having a care.
Typical American reaction.
"It's happened to us and is therefore Worse and Bigger and More Serious than if it had happened anywhere else, even if the outcome is nowhere near as bad".
Perhaps the headline should have read:
"Our Global Warming".
Thank you Dr.Max.
You were able to put quite nicely what my anger prevented me from doing. Thanks again.
These people in the southern states are piss poor. The live there because that's where they were born and raised and can't make enough money to move out. They are trapped by their circumstances.
Those who have not seen first hand how they live, can not conceive that America has this kind of third world poverty, but to some extent it does exist. What little these folks had is gone. They now have nothing.
Stepping off the box now.
finally.
Well i wasn't going to comment, but i figured better get it over with, in case i post one when drunk - which i'd regret.
Just gonna say thanks to the last two commenters for voicing their and my sentiments - i wasn't so much disappointed by your post, herge, as much as i was by some of the comments on it.
woo! I'm surprised my comment didn't get even more vitriolic responses. Oh well, I had to get some anger over the "Our Tsunami" comment out. I certainly have a lot more compassion for those who have not and can not, than my comments show.
But of course, in blogworld, none of us really know who each other is deep down. Good on you to stand up and say your piece too.
And good on Herge to bring about a comment-inspiring post.
i think others have pointed out that a lot of the residents of this area are dirt-ass poor. they couldn't leave. disabled, elderly, no cars, that kind of poverty. not that this excuses the headline, but don't judge the lot of us by what one paper chooses to run.
i'm not looking to justify what that headline implies. i'm just saying that this is a tragedy, i've seen estimates that 1 million are now homeless, and of those, 30 to 40 percent have no insurance. no homes, no jobs, no anything, potentially losing family members, and the overall cost of it will affect the entire nation.
the levees were built to category three hurricane specs but let's be honest about this: is it possible to engineer against nature? really? a tornado ripped through here a few years back, a quarter of a mile wide, 250mph, and was on the ground for fifty minutes. path was seventy miles long. erased an entire town. you can't engineer enough to contend with that. people live in trailers in kansas BECAUSE THEY'RE POOR.
i can't tell some rich asshole to move off hawaii 'cause there's volcanos, and i can't tell people to move out of cali to keep away from earthquakes.
not all of us are jerks, and not all of us have the freedom the media seems to imply, to get up and go. go where? if you're an 80 year old on medicaid with no family, where do you go?
sigh. i don't know. it's awful, and it would be awful regardless of where it happened.
What you call a "typical American reaction", Mr. Lordbargain, is our media vying for attention and is certainly not the reaction of the majority of America's patria. I do not blame you if you don't like our Government or our Media but don't pool us commoners in with them.
And Thordora, while I respect you for your picture of J'Onn J'Onzz, I am fearful of the amount of benightedness in your statements. Not Manhuntery at all. Please read Amazing Anon's comment for a summary of the facts that you may or may not be privvy to. I'm not saying you have to feel sorry for us, I'm just saying you need to understand the magnitude of what has happened, tsunami or not.
I believe Foamy The Squirrel (cussing ahead NSFW) can sum it up best.
Hello everyone. Thank you for leaving your lovely comments on this post.
Just to put you straight on this issue here is the Angry Chimps take on the hurricane and the media.
1. Yes, of course the people killed/ made homeless was a tragedy. And yes, once again the poor seem to have got hit the hardest - it's lucky they live in the richest country in the world though - I'm sure the government will dip in their pockets to help these folk out. I wonder, when the choppers come to pick these people up out of the shit ridden water, are they asked if they have insurance before they're given a lift?
2. My outrage in this post is directed at the article headline in NY Post. It is utterly disgusting to even try to compare the Tsunami disaster with this. The headline writer, and editor should be utterly ashamed of themselves. It's like comparing the treatment of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib with Nazi death camps - see how much that grates? - same thing here. It's simple the media creating headlines to make you buy their papers. They love your sense of grief, they play to it - they want your money. THAT IS ALL. This is not jouralism, it's an atrocity exhibition and they're selling tickets.
3. When the US papers and media report the news in the fashion it is not just contained to US shores, the rest of the world see this. Rather than allowing other nations to feel sympathetic for the plight of those caught up in this the media demand and expect a certain response - in this case "WORST NATURAL DISASTER IN US HISTORY" "HUNDREDS FEARED DEAD" "MILLIONS HOMELESS" "Here's Bob with the weather". All people see is the arrogance of the reporting and the trite, insincere news coverage. This is especially true in light of point 4.
4. Yesterday over 1000 people (most woman and children) were crushed to death and drowned when a railing collapsed on a brige following a rumour that there was a suicide bomber at a religious meeting in Iraq. 1000 people! And this is not simply a numbers game, because if we go down this route over a 1000 people a month are killed in bombings in Iraq - it is this - This situation was the direct result of the US and UK's actions in that country. We caused it, yet the majority of news services are far more comfortable with pictures of people standing on roofs surrounded by flood water - far less complicated to understand than streets littered with childrens bodies. This utterly sickens me.
Honestly, can you imagine an Iragi reading that headline? P'ah.
5. America is not the Government and its media. Not by a long chalk, it is the people, yet the people are happy (it seems - although I'm certain it is not the case) to sit back and allow both these institutions to sully and degrade the country over and over again in the Worlds eye. You have the worst PR imaginable. And whats worse, the media and government act in such a callus and arrogant manner that they suggest the America people really shouldn't give a shit about what anyone outside of the US thinks.
So that's my take on this headline.
At heart, my issue with this is prevention, and taking warnings seriously. I can't even think of the children suffering through this, as it breaks me heart. But you know what breaks it even more? The fact that some parents refused to leave when advised of a mandatory evacuation.
Lots of people are dirt poor. If we were advised to evacuate, I have NO idea where I would go, or how I would afford it. But I would pick up and leave as fast as I can. It has nothing to do with my economics. And generally speaking, when an area is advised to evacuate, the local government will assist in evacuating you. Just like they are assisting people in evacuating now, albeit some of those people are now dead.
The point is as well that you can, to a degree, engineer against nature, or begin to NOT live there. It's not someone's fault who was born there-it should be a governmental responsibility to move people and resettle them from areas that are in CLEAR catastrophic danger if something occurs. This didn't occur in a vacuum-they had PLENTY of knowledge that it would happen. Forewarned is generally forearmed.
And even if the government moved them, they would STILL return to the exact area. And yet I'm the one suffering for being blind? And yet I'm to feel as sorry for these people as I did weeping for all the dead children in Asia who thought the ocean had been trying to play with them?
I have no, and will never have ANY respect for people who cannot read the handwriting on the wall. Do I feel terrible that some older persons could not get out, and that there isn't the emergency system in place for them. Yep. But did anyone who CAN fix that care before this happened? Nope.
While I will be donating in anyway I can since it is needed, I will not apologize for being angry that many, if not all of these deaths, and much of the destruction could have been avoided or minimized. Needless waste.
And Herge is right. Did anyone really stop and notice 1000 people, mostly women and children, who were trampled or fell to their death from a bridge in Baghdad? Nope.
go see another Martian if you don't always believe that they knew this was coming...
www.martiananthropologist.blogspot.com/2005/08/katrina-gas-4-gallon-soon.html
Herge, I agree with just about everythig in your comment (the exception is that no one would ask if the people have insurance before picking them up in a helicopter...they'd just ask before giving any medical treatment.), and I actually have no issues with your post itself. I hate that some idiots are trying to compare disasters, which is why I was angry when I first heard it on television. As far as seeming happy with allowing our government and/or media to make us look like fools, the problem is that I can say it's stupid, infuriating or just plain wrong and a few people hear, but when the NY Post acts the way the NY Post typically acts, people around the world hear.
My issue is with people who are suggesting that people deserve what they get for where they live or for not leaving. It makes me wonder if they have ever tried to leave everything behind with only a few days notice while a couple million other people try to do the same thing. It doesn't work so well. If people had to live in no-risk areas we'd all live in about 5 cities on the planet and that's really no fun at all. No matter where you live, there is a trade-off of one thing for another.
Calling it "our tsunami": appalingly callous and idiotic.
Saying you won't feel sorry for people because they shouldn't live there or because they didn't leave: likewise.
"Calling it "our tsunami": appalingly callous and idiotic.
Saying you won't feel sorry for people because they shouldn't live there or because they didn't leave: likewise."
I would leave a comment, but CK already did it for me.
this is gonna be a doozy.
herge: first of all, i love your blog. lemme get that out of the way first.
1. richest country in the world? 1% of the population holds 90% of the wealth. there used to be a concept called noblesse oblige, but it's long gone. we'll pay for this alright, but it'll be the middle class and the working poor who do pay for it. yes, we'll help, and yes, we should, but the burden is on the poor to help the poor.
2. outrage at the NY Post is dandy. call them "fuckwits", write 'em and have the editor fired. shoot his ass. don't direct your anger at americans in general.
yes, they're playing to sympathy. who wouldn't? it sells, it gets attention. if they're selling tickets, baby, you bought one too. and do you think they give a flying shit what you or i think? negative, ghost rider.
3. media is biased as a point of fact. i defy you or anyone to show me a news media outlet that isn't. we don't live in a vacuum anymore, tho. i don't only rely on kansas news (albeit this is the stuff that affects me most directly), and i'm exposed to everything from the BBC to Al Jazeera. think they're not biased their own way as well?
4. agreed. my government is not allowing pictures of coffins from iraq to be shown. in any form. this is the will of the controlling party. you wanna hate W for it? do it. i do too.
5. this is where you're wrong. the majority of this country did not vote for that asshat. he stole the first one, clear as day and people let him get away with it! i'm still on fire from that. the people elected are technically the majority's choice, which doesn't necessarily make them my choice.
the multiparty system is dead. it has become a corporation. we've tried to puch thru limitations on campaign finance, but interestingly, those in the majority of congress (who are the ones in power) do not think this is such a good idea. they're being financed by business. if you're not wealthy, and i mean very disgustingly wealthy, you can forget the presidency of the US. yes, i'm a bigot. i've never met a rich person i could trust, and have never been given a reason to. i don't shop at the big stores, i don't buy what they try to sell me on tv. so if you think that america is happy with this, ask the 90,000 blacks disenfranchised in the '00 election. ask the gays who have their civil liberties put to popular vote. ask me. don't buy what they're selling, herge.
and thordora:
how would you suggest moving a million people in days? that's a hypothetical, and i wouldn't expect an answer. where do you move them to? how do you pay for it? and remember that shit like this isn't up to one person, it's done by committee! so add two or three days to the time estimate.
free will, that is, choosing to stay or not, gets all people into trouble. the parents who lost children because they decided not to go...are you really suggesting that i should have no sympathy for them? i would imagine not.
you're pandering to emotion yourself when you compare the death of a million children to the death of 100. can you really say that one is worse than the other? it's fucking awful, in either case.
so when mommy and daddy are base idiots, that makes the death of their child somehow more okay than some child who thinks the ocean is playing with them? the sins of the father, and all that.
your comments in this case, and in all fairness, i don't know you at all, and i do not want to offend, but frankly, with your "no soup for you"s and "nope"s are mighty blithe about what this implies you know about american communities.
and i'm going to stop now before i get myself into trouble.
I comment on this blog not to be pious nor anti-social. I care a lot for my fellow citizens and anyone who needs care or concern, and I believe I do that most of my life. I'd be daft to believe someone who isn't in control of their entire life situation is a fuckwit for not moving; that is not my message at all.
But FUCKSAKE, there are generations of people who WERE in control (richer, politicians, media, etc.) who ENABLED this situation OVER THE DECADES. Don't tell me New Orleans is suddenly much more dangerous now than 100 years ago. It's ALWAYS been below sea level, it's ALWAYS been in hurricanes' paths, but some HUMANS decided "oh let's just work against nature, it'll work out, you'll see, we'll engineer level 3 levees whatever the fuck that means and nobody will be hurt". AND THEN SOME FUCKWIT says "Our Tsunami". Sorry if I'm hurting people's feelings, that's not my intention. I'm venting at the craziness.
National Geographic article on New Orleans, October 2004
I do continue to respect everyone's views, and I won't attempt to silence anyone who disagrees with me. I have no idea if this comment will make it through; blogspot seems a bit under the weather all afternoon here.
Let me see if I understand this argument: Our government is screwing us over in terms of protecting our cities, and this means you have LESS sympathy? Your government has done some abominably shitty things; should we not care for you if something happens?
True, what happened in Southeast Asia is more severe. True, that headline is hyperbole. But that doesn't mean you should thumb your nose at us when something horrible happens.
Here are some images of the destruction.
Is anyone specifically having a go at me here?
Just thought I'd check because I've movedon just like the British media I've now moved on to other stories.
As it turns out the British media haven't quite moved on yet, they're happily pouring over the salacious details of the looting, shootings, armed gangs roaming the lawless streets and the vast number of poor bastards caught up in this asking what the government is going to do.
Does anyone know why this happened? I don't mean in terms of 'yes, it happened because it was a hurricane' but why weren't messure put into place to combat this? I can only assume the measures they had in place were shitty, old and inadequate, and most important of all - expensive to improve.
Crystal - the reason you'd have heard about the bombings was that it has the OUR 9/11.
Sorry folks, couldn't resist.
Hey Crystal and in fact everyone for your thoughts and opinions on this.
Obviously, if you do feel strongly about what's happened and want to help out at all please visit Dr Max (above) - he has listed a number of support groups involved in the clear up.
And be assured there is more Dalek stuff on the way.
Crystal, you're right. I am a vile horrible person because I am absolutely horrified with the fact that multiple levels of government did NOT protect your countrymen. That comment was well out of line, and I apologize for it. I've spent the last few days becoming increasingly horrified with the situation, as well as my own reactions to it.
Stepping back, and reading various viewpoints, some of which came from people in that area, I can see that some people had no choice but to stay. My blame, my anger, my overwhelming sadness becomes pointed at your government, all levels, and not just the current administration. My anger goes right back to what many people have said-they had MANY MANY chances to prevent, or at the very least, minimize this type of disaster. THEY FAILED YOU.
In my guttural reaction to this as a mother, I reacted. I'm not there, I don't know what it feels like. I'm not close enough to really help, too poor to send money. I could sit here crying at the waste, but what would that solve?
My anger at stupidity is slowly levelling out to the government, as I stretch out to find alternate viewpoints. I apologize greatly for that comment, but I take exception to the fact that everyone keeps maintaining no one knew it would be that bad.
They did. Sadly, disgustingly, they did. And that is the one fact that has turned me into a raving arse today.
Is it me, or is nothing being done by the Prez and his Government because those that are affected are predominately poor and black.
When I watch the pics on TV and on the tin'ternet all you see are black faces in fucking torment, crying out for help DAYS after this thing hit.
Of course without any aid a large number are taking to looting (of course there are also a large number that are simple opportunists, but still) I know I would in the same situation - homes wiped out, no food, no clean water, shops full of the stuff - no help from the govt - so what is the first order of business for the national guard and martial law? - Shoot to kill looters. Well that's bloody lovely ain't it?
Is anyone under any illusion as to why Iraq is in such a fucking mess now?
And, does anyone think this would have been handled the same way if say Texas had have been hit?
TO the Americans out there - what does the media say about this - are they starting to critise the Prez, or is it still very much the party line?
Whether you like the Prez or not, it takes time to get through the red tape. It always does.
Like Crystal said, they didn't quite know the extent of the destruction Katrina would cause.
Also, there were several days while she was in the gulf that they werren't sure which way she would go.
These gov't relief programs are really picky about what town name is on the form.
Keep in mind that Hurricane relief has been around since W was in diapers so he really had no say in the matter... Lay off the Prez. He's not God.
Also, if it had hit Texas, we would have had to wait just as long as the folks in Louisiana. Paper moves slow. We all know this.
Really, there is no point in playing the "blame game". It happened. It has been horrible.
Now let's do our best to be postive influences in the aftermath. We need to stop attacking one another just because we are all greiving for the senselessness of it all.
Such waste of human life is always hard to wrap our minds around. Let's remember that on some level, those who come here do so because it makes us feel good to be here.
I love you Herge. You are my friend. And I love those whom I have gotten to know through your blog. I am so sorry that everyone is having such heartbreak over this.
I don't have any answers except that if you really want to do something, than get out there and do it. All this back biting isn't helping the effort.
bloody hell herge. you are a brave man for posting this and getting this bumper response of comments.
It's a human tragedy on a massive scale. That's all I'm going to say on the subject. That and it's become like watching a live action "lord of the flies". I'm not interested at the moment in what caused it, or why so many people are dying, or the response of the government or any of that stuff. At the moment I can only think about the suffering.
ST
BTW, there's more information now as to delays in beaurocracy: LA was not allowing outsiders in for several reasons, not even federal aid, not even Red Cross. Go to news.google.com for more information as necessary or warranted. It gets crazier and crazier how lots of issues came together to make this disaster as horrible as it came to be. My thoughts and prayers are with them all (and apparently a lot of the NO folks will physically be housed in Philly soon if not already).
You DARE to mock us? Our Lord and Savior George W. Bush shall vanquish your sad excuse for an island.
Kneel and tremble at our superior might, better looking chicks and better music.
What is it you morons call one another? Twats.
Post a Comment