Comments on: Censoring the news

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 03:50:23 +0000

It’s simply amazing this idiot for a mayor! He showed the world the ignorance that he has & this shows the ignorance of the people in New Orleans…. They re-elect the moron! As far as I am concerned…. New Orleans can fall off into the ocean! The looting & crime these people displayed during their time of need showed the world the ignorance they have! They were told to get out….even if you had to walk! They got what they deserve! Sorry about your luck…. You were warned & our government shouldn’t help your stupid asses! Your witch craft dumbasses deserve what happened to you! You don’t deserve this government nor our help!

By: Ben Tillman

Ben Tillman — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:53:50 +0000

“We are watching people die because our government has not gotten them water.”

Why should the government get them water? If they cannot get water for themselves, they must look to their fellow Americans for help. If their fellow Americans do not deem them worthy of help — or if some of them attack those trying to help — they have made their beds, and they must lie in them.

By: Ben Tillman

Ben Tillman — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:41:16 +0000

“Journalists charged with reporting accurately bleeped ‘ass’ and â€œgoddamnâ€ and they wouldnâ€™t let him say ‘BS.’ That is bullshit. ”

What is it with you New Orleans people? When I was at the argument of the Falwell v. Flynt case before the US Supreme Court, Larry Flynt’s lawyer from N.O. said “BS” to the Court.

By: robert

robert — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:37:53 +0000

Well, I am a racist. I use my eyes, and see negroes behaving like savages not only in New Orleans, but in Los Angeles, Detroit, New York, and all over Africa, e.g., Zimbabwe. It’s about time that civilized people wake up and see the world as it is, not as they’d like it to be.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 22:43:37 +0000

I am not a racist but when you see black communities all over the nation look like the beirut of old where you are not safe anytime of the day, where murders, rapes happen on a daily basis, drug dealers, gangs running rampant, prostitution, and Lord knows what else. It makes anyone wonder if they have the mental capacity if left alone by themselves to live like civilized human beings. I am not white but It seems to me that they cannot function without the white race or any other race to oversee what they do. I am an immigrant from latin america and I know I am not the only one who has observed this. Sometimes I wonder if they have fully evolved or still have that warrior, small minded thinkers like their ancestors in Africa. I don’t know. This is America and when I drive thru black communities I do not feel safe I feel like if I walk thru their streets I would get killed. It should not be like this in America. We are supposed to be an advanced civilization not act like third world like I see in these black communities. Some of my best friends are african americans and they are well educated, higly intelligent, upper crust members of society. I asked them without offending them why this is happening in America. They’re answer: Mentorship, education, welfare reform, church leaders to be more involved, family cohesiveness.

By: Al Terego

Al Terego — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:03:25 +0000

In a way, I kind of feel his pain. he naively thought that he could just have people wait out the storm in the dome. Not a problem, except these weren’t white people who pull together in the face of adversity. these were savage criminalistic african beasts, whose first instincts are always to steal, rape and rob. He, being one of the aforementioned savages, did what any liberal dem would do..refused to see the black scourge for what it really is. and actually thought that they would act “human”. WRONG!
He didn’t fail…His people did.
as they have been failing for hundreds of years, all over the world.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 20:46:15 +0000

It is disgusting and repugnant to see the media back up this Mayor Nagin in blaming the Federal Government for not responding to the situation rapidly when in truth he and blanco initially are the first responders. Think about it. It shows you the true colors of liberals to berate the Bush Administration but dismiss their Liberal Constituents in Nagin and Blanco. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when entertainers such as Kanye West, Celine Dion etc. voice their political opinions. They need to stick to what they do best entertaining, period. If they are going to get involved politically then they should run for office.

By: Edie in Pensacola

Edie in Pensacola — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 18:31:32 +0000

The ooh’s and aah’s are sickening. This type of damage is GUARANTEED to be delivered by a Cat 4 storm, especially if you are below sea level.

I should know. I live in Pensacola.

There is only one way to react to this . . . EVACUATE!! And don’t try to evacuate 1-1/2 million people in 12 hours.

Blanco and Nagin should be removed from office and tried for manslaughter.

By: Linda Edwards

Linda Edwards — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 03:31:55 +0000

Sick in L.A. (the name says it all),

The Red Cross and Salvation Army was designated in the city’s emergency plan to come in and handle the food distribution, which they were prepared to do. FEMA stopped them from coming in and doing their job. I would assume the S.A. had the same problem.

Darling, I’ve been in more poverty stricken areas than you can shake a stick at. Abandoned cars are all over the place. Oh, wait……

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 01:31:00 +0000

It just goes to show that when you have poverty stricken people voting for state or local officials they will vote for someone who sounds uneducated, unarticulate, corrupt, do nothing SOB like Mayor Nagin. Now they are seeing the results for putting this incompetent, foul mouthed, blame others except himself maggot. The result? DEATH. LOW LIFES coming out of their rat infested holes, looting and shooting at people trying to do good for the people and the city. It is embarassing to see a major city in America like NO look like a third world country in the eyes of the world. SAD.

By: sick in los angeles

sick in los angeles — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 21:19:50 +0000

Hey Linda Edwards, ever been to a poverty striken area??? I work in LA and often times find myself in the projects of South CENTRAL Los Angeles and the things you will notice are
1. there are not enough parking spaces for all the cars these people own
2. they have nice cars
3. every home has more than 2 t.v. sets

what is wrong with this picture…..so it is hard to believe people did not have a way to get out, or did not have info about the necessity to leave

also, if you have watched the news coverage, i am sure you must have noticed how many vehicles are submerged in the waters of New Orleans.

Oh, and DB…we do care about others, to the tune of the billions we will spend on the rebuilding. But what needs to happen is that people need to learn how to take care of themselves, like heed the warnings and make a decision to stay or go. If you stay, be prepared to survive without outside assistance for at least 3 days, and DONT COMPLAIN IF THEY DONT COME FAST ENOUGH!

By: DB

DB — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 08:11:01 +0000

I am not trying to make it a political issue insofar as democrat vs. republican, but when you look at who is gaining and who is ignored in this country, it is obvious that the middle class and low income people suffer. I feel for those people in New Orleans. Those people are living hell beyond what any of us could imagine, and this is coming from someone who spent days battling blocked phone lines trying to get through to friends and relatives in the days following 9/11. I just hope that we learn from all of this and begin to care about others. I hope that we can learn to be less selfish and lookout for the welfare of our fellow human beings.

By: DB

DB — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 07:50:15 +0000

Take the lord’s name in vain? Cursing? There are far greater crimes occurring in this country than words being uttered.

By: Linda Edwards

Linda Edwards — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 01:45:50 +0000

TScho, a third of NO lives under the poverty level. I don’t know why, but it seems to be really hard for alot of people to understand that not everyone is born with an SUV in their garage and no money in their pocket.

By: pst314

pst314 — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 01:21:26 +0000

TScho wrote: “Am I to believe that tens of thousands of people had NO money for gas or NO car?”

If one person has a emergency she can probably find somebody who can help her get a ride out of town, but I expect that breaks down in this sort of situation: It’s hard to borrow a car from somebody who needs theirs to bug out. If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, it’s hard to borrow money from others in the same situation. (And even if you have a little money in a savings account, it may not be accessible on the weekend as not everybody has an ATM card.) It’s hard to rent a car if everybody else is doing the same. And so on.

By: TScho

TScho — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:41:59 +0000

Am I to believe that tens of thousands of people had NO money for gas or NO car? NO family or friends to help? If I knew a category five was headed my way I would find some way to get my family out, no matter what. But to comment on the censorship of the incompetant mayor….I think it was definitely a good choice not to allow him to take the Lord’s name in vain and to use such vulgar language. I can’t believe a person like that would EVER get elected to any sort of public office, what a disgrace!!! He certainly sounded like a moron….

By: TScho

TScho — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 23:33:27 +0000

Why does everything have to become race related? And my huge question is why the crap anybody stayed in NO? It was all over the news days prior to Katrina hitting that it was a category FIVE….

By: Robert Swaim

Robert Swaim — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 17:59:50 +0000

Dan Butler
Re: Halliburton – Simple reading of the posted links provides some key information:
Contracts awarded in 2004. (Not as you suggest because of Katrina)
Contracts awarded on a “Competiive Bidding ” basis.
Ongoing work KBR has done for 15 years.
Contracts are to do continuing work at Navy Bases not in New Orleans or the associated levees.
To assign as you attempted some sinister back door, it’s all about the money, motive is an extreme leap from the realities of the contracts. Personally I want the GAO, DOD Procurement, FEMA and others to look directly down the neck of any company providing goods and services that my tax dollars pay for, whether that be Boeing, Halliburton of YetAnother Rick’s Joe’s Trash Hauling Services.
Re: Who am I?
You are correct on several points, I live in the Midwest, I have a better than average job, I have children, attend church and volunteer through my veteran’s organization to assist in Youth Sports Programs. I gave a 4 figure gift to the Red Cross for Hurricane relief. gave as I do twice a year blood, and have 2 young men (friends of my son’s) who were attending law school (we don’t hold that against them) in New Orleans currently staying with us while they continue their education through a program provided by our State colleges. I obviously am not the compassionate teacher/mentor/social worker that you are. So that’s why it’s so hard for me to understand why someone with your background would ignore the true tragedy in New Orleans, the plight of it’s citizens, and instead attempt to make it political. Unless of course your compassion is reserved only for those who agree with your political beliefs.

By: PRRunAmok

PRRunAmok — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 17:14:21 +0000

Jeff,

I don’t know what media you were reading, watching and/or listening to. I heard the entire Nagel interview, completed with every Goddamn, pissed and bullshit aired on MSNBC over satellite radio, which is the EXACT feed as viewers see on TV.

I don’t mind the cussing, it was honest and real. But perhaps instead of directing his anger at the Federal Government (which I agree, was also appallingly unprepared), he should be stepping back and taking a look at what actions he as mayor should have done to get those people out of there BEFORE THE STORM. The resources were at his disposal, he and the governor of Louisiana simply chose not to use them.

When a Government issues a mandatory evacuation, is it not then the Government’s duty to do everything in it’s power to see that the evacuation is enforced? They knew the potential of this storm. They knew thousands were without the means to get out, yet they DID NOTHING TO HELP.

While Nagin and the Governor of New Orleans weathered the storm in safety from Baton Rouge or other areas further inland, they abandoned those who needed them most.

It’s a disgrace for all involved.

By: pst314

pst314 — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 16:57:27 +0000

Update to yesterday's comment: According to this report the USNS Comfort is stopping to pick up supplies and personnel, and will not arrive at New Orleans until Thursday Sept 8th. Winds of Change has a roundup of Navy ships involved in the relief effort.

By: MissD

MissD — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 16:39:53 +0000

Ummm, let’s see. According to what I just read, Halliburton has been doing this sort of work for the federal gov’t for 15 years. I guess that would mean Bill Clinton (gasp!) awarded those first contracts??? Perhaps that comment about moral depravity was indeed correct after all.

By: YetAnotherRick

YetAnotherRick — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:18:05 +0000

About Halliburton…I wrote the President and told him he should hire Joe’s Trash Hauling to do the cleanup work. Joe’s my friend, and he just got a new pickup truck.

I suppose I’d start a flame war if I mentioned what president first arranged for Halliburton contracts.

By: Grray

Grray — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 05:48:49 +0000

Robert, I guess you’re the next to be kicked by JJ.

By: Grray

Grray — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 05:46:34 +0000

Dan, it’s even in the NYT now. You should have searched ‘Halliburton’ with 2 ‘l’ and used google news search.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/politics/04halliburton.html

By: Korutenshi

Korutenshi — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 05:22:37 +0000

I know, the pattern of unethical and sometimes illicit behavior is there for all to see, most just consider it too incredulous or conspiratorial to give it any creedence. I used to feel the same way about a disaster such as this. I no longer feel that way.