Stupid and evil on so many levels.

Where did all the money raised go??? As a Canadian, I cannot understand how Americans can pay taxes without feeling outraged. Is the government not supposed to protect those who it serves? In Canada, we have many programs that offer financial help on a monthly basis to low income families, without them having to be on social assistance. Not to mention Health Care! And I know that there is no way our government would allow people to die in the streets and then turn a blind eye while they try to put their lives back together. A lot of Canadians harbor bad attitudes towards Americans, but in the after math of Katrina, I think a lot of us realized it is the government, not the people who have disgraced their country, and like a lot of good Canadians, we put our feelings aside to help. But again, where did the money go? I saw a documentary "Kamp Katrina" about a woman called Ms. Pearl who opened her home to strangers who were in need. This is the Canadian way. I was so moved, I tracked her down and we are having a benefit party for her this weekend. She still has 14 people living in her home and I am happy to be able to support her personally, for I know she saw none of the money I gave to organized charities. If anyone else would like to contact her, let me know... alirandyabi@yahoo.com TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER!!!

There are some places on this planet that no city should be built and where New Orelans is happens to be one of them.

That may be true, but human beings still live there and consider it home. With what we have done to our planet, it would be fair to say the same for all of us!

Washington letter to New Orleans: Move your azzez or die.

The Decider

"There are some places on this planet that no city should be built and where New Orelans is happens to be one of them."

This is such an ignorant thing to say, and yet it's been said far too many times since Katrina. Just as many cities around the world are built in unfavorable locations (San Francisco, Rotterdam, etc.), New Orleans is where it is for a variety of valid economic and geographic reasons.

Get a clue, goober.

You should seeee all the astounding things the Dutch government has built to defend it's citizens from the genuine threat of the sea.

Of course, there was a time when the Dutch had their wealth used for colonial adventures.

Things can change.

Re BillB's compassionate comment--"There are some places on this planet that no city should be built and where New Orelans is happens to be one of them."--I guess we should evacuate California (whose next earthquake can be the Big One), to say nothing of Fire Island and most of Long Island, for that matter.

It's great to see that Katrina and its aftermath are not completely forgotten. If you're thinking of taking a trip, go to New Orleans. Eat up a storm. Have a great time in the French Quarter, the Garden District, the Uptown restaurants, parks and boutiques, and then take a tour of the 9th Ward and the many other outlying districts that are still uninhabited.

Attention must be paid, over and over and over again.

Things won't change too soon for me Big-Money. Our government no longer pretends to serve its citizens. They see themselves as a merry band of rogue cowboys financed by us citizens.

Their adventurous expeditions which ride rough shod over any country unable to protect itself afford numerous opportunities for thieving and murder.

Our Canadian contributor along with us serfs can only hope the US dollar is still recognized by other countries when the neocons stumble back to Texas laughing and hungover.

George should be looking forward to having nobody to criticize him for chewing with his mouth open after a hard day pretending to clear brush and ride mustangs.

Why won't somebody round up some of his former cronies to help him start drinking again? It would have to be an improvement.

Just listen to GW's rhetoric as we did for the State of the Onion - pure Bull Poop! This guy and this admin. will go down in history as the worst in US history!

Take warning in the time frame. Within 24 hours this city had turned to this. One minute I was looking at my neighbors who hung out on the old cars in front of our apartments and the next minute the cars were washed away and I never saw those neighbors again. Think about where you could go and how far you could get with a 24 hour head start.

To me, New Orleans is the canary in the mine shaft vis-a-vie our government. Once upon a time, before Vietnam actually, I thought the government was at least benign. Now, it is pretty obvious to most that something horrible has infested our country. Pity, not enough of us has the gumption to pound sand in a rat hole, let alone take care of this mess.

Veteran, '66-68

"You can go to www.levees.org or www.all4energy.org and make a contribution - they're just two of the nongovernmental organizations trying to solve the problems here. Or write to your favorite government official and ask what he or she intends to do."

The above is the most important part of the article, especially the first sentence.

Sad that we pay taxes, isn't it? Almost none of the money goes toward helping people in New Orleans, since most of it is spent on killing people in Iraq.

What can I say about New Orleans and Katrina that Naomi Klein has not said already.

Manitobans open wallets to aid victims

Doer offers sympathy, helping hand

Thu Sep 1 2005, WPG Free Press

By Paul Egan and Kevin Rollason

THE provincial government has offered to help victims of hurricane Katrina while individual Manitobans are opening their wallets to help.

Premier Gary Doer, who wrote Prime Minister Paul Martin Tuesday offering Manitoba's help in federal relief efforts, said a book of condolences for the hurricane victims will be placed in the foyer of the Legislative Building today.

Doer, in a prepared statement, offered his sympathy and help "to our friends in the southern United States who are facing unquestioned heartache and hardship as a result of this hurricane."

At Manitoba Hydro, high-level talks were under way yesterday about sending workers and equipment to the hurricane zone, but nothing had been decided, spokesman Jim Peters said.

Hydro officials not only have expertise in restoring electricity but also have familiarity with dams that could be useful in addressing Louisiana's problems with breached levees.

Chuck Sanderson, executive director of the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization, said much of his department's expertise is in recovery efforts following a disaster -- work that could still be several days from getting under way. Manitoba is waiting for a request from the Canadian federal government, which is in contact with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he said. Though the province is offering to donate its manpower, Deputy Premier Rosann Wowchuk said the government had made no decisions about making a financial donation to relief efforts. The Manitoba government donated $100,000 to tsunami relief last December.

Lois Nickel, administrative co-ordinator of Mennonite Disaster Service, which gives aid to disasters in North America, said about $7,000 came in by mid-day yesterday to bring the total raised in little more than a day to about $10,000.

Nickel said besides cash, Manitobans are also offering to volunteer their help.

"We're telling them when we are ready to send volunteers to the area we will post it on our website. But it won't be for weeks or months."

The MDS website is www.mds.mennonite.net

Shelley Faintuch, community relations director of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, said more than $4,000 was raised yesterday. "This will help Jewish people there and lots of other people too," Faintuch said.

"We know every dollar will help."

A spokesman for the Manitoba division of the Canadian Red Cross

Claudia Graffin of Selkirk, who recently retired as a registered psychiatric nurse, said she has already called the Red Cross to volunteer her services.

Graffin, 57, said she is "devastated" by media reports from Louisiana and Mississippi and is ready to do whatever she can to help.

"People in Manitoba lose their homes to flooding from the Red River, that's bad enough, but to lose your whole town and your whole city and everything that you own and not be able to do anything about it... I can't imagine."

Meanwhile, closer to the ravaged areas, Adam Bronstone, a former Winnipegger who is now community relations director for the Jewish Federation of New Orleans, said dollars are what's needed most by hurricane victims.

"Tell people they should send money and lots and lots of it," Bronstone, 36, said from Houston, Texas, where he went on Saturday before the storm hit.

"People are going to need lots and lots of help. We're actually trying to save people right now. I'm working with the Sheriff of Baton Rouge to pick up 20 people in New Orleans to take by helicopter to Houston. "This is fairly stressful work as you can imagine."

Provincial Opposition Leader Stuart Murray also offered his condolences to the victims.

"Watching images on TV, as I've seen them, it's chilling," Murray said. "Our hearts go out to them."

paul.egan@freepress.mb.ca

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

You are correct, John Freeman. We are indeed the canary in the mine shaft. We are the cutting edge of life in this country for the foreseeable future. And I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to be here.
We do plan to leave, when our children finish school in two years. Of course, that presupposes that we can find employment elsewhere, because many evacuees can't. Like many people, we had to return to jobs, because we couldn't just leave our source of income behind. Also, my son in medical school had to return to finish. He couldn't just get into a new med school in the middle of a semester. Others couldn't leave because they have mortgages on their homes, and can't afford to pay for two houses at once.
However, people continue to leave, as the opportunity arises, especially medical personnel. It is very hard to get good medical care. Psychological care is just about non-existent, and that is one reason for our outrageous crime problem.
The depression and sadness continues unabated. I live in an unflooded home 15 miles from the "floodlands", and I suffer daily. Traveling through the ruined neighborhoods daily is a pain that I would not have believed possible, especially when you see the number of people in trailers, the still blighted homes, and the dauntless efforts to rebuild.
Without any leadership on local, state, or federal levels, we are left alone to deal with astronomical insurance, inadequate flood protection, crime, and the disillusionment that comes from being deserted by the nation.
In fact, this area should not be built the way it is. However, government has allowed development of the wetlands, ruin of the wetlands by oil companies, and, of course, the scandalous Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, Mr Go, which was built against all advice by the corrupt Corps of Engineers, and which is what allowed the storm surge that broke the levees. At this time, the Corps is not being held responsible, even though their negligence has been proven and documented time and again.
Where did the money go that people sent here? I wish I knew. I do know that I will never again give to any organized charity during a time of crisis. I will give to individuals. Church groups have done far more than the government to ease the suffering here. The ten billion that we fought for to help homeowners has been mismanaged, and it was never enough to begin with. When you think that our city could have been rebuilt the right way if we had only a few months worth of the money that is being thrown away in Iraq.....
And one must keep in mind that New Orleans is not without value to this nation. We have a large percentage of the nation's oil refineries here, and it is the oil industry that, in fact, has ruined the wetland protection that caused this. We have a very important port, and the war of 1812 was fought to retain this port. We have a very creative culture and the best food in the nation. It is not a perfect area, but we deserve to treated like US citizens. It should also be noted that New Orleans has 5 major universities and a very educated populace. We are not the banana republic that many make us out to be. Also, as believed by most of the nation, we do not flood regularly, any more than any other city that lies on a river or lake. I have lived here since I was born, and my parents and grandparents, and no one ever had an inch of water in their homes. We have problems with street flooding, but that is something that clears up within hours, and seldom invades homes.
I look forward to leaving here, but I will miss my job, my friends, my home. I wish I didn't have to leave, but I have been an activist since the '60s, and I am savvy enough to recognize that this, because of the pitiful state of our nation, is too broken to fix.
Obama will be here tomorrow. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.

Wow some of you are not so nice at all, a simple true statement and all the flak. But New Orleans is too low and yes I know people live there and we should help them but not in the low area. They deserve better. As for other places ofcourse we have put up dwellings and have workers there to reap the wealth for the ownership who sits in some fairly safe place. Take a look at La Palmya when it slides off into the ocean and the east coast of North America gets hit by a tidal wave of 300 feet, yes three hundred feet at least that high. If I cam alive will I come back and say that the east coast is one of the places that no city should be built ? Ofcourse not, but we should have started moving that mountain yesterday.
Oh yes anybody that wished to attempt to insult me with names or any other way shape or form, it only makes you a lesser person.
Stay warm if you are like me in Minnesota, yes a place that has trouble in the winters and too hot in the summers.

You can support free health care in New Orleans by going to http://cghc.org the web site of the Common Ground Health Clinic. The clinic was formed by street medics after Katrina and is still there serving the community.

As Vaudree indicated above If you will read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism the whole New AOrelas mess takes on a more sinister and far less inept or incompetent color.

Those bums weren't just incompetent, they were incompetent deliberately in order to advance their own agenda to use the Federal treasury as a sort of ATM machine and cash cow to be milked to the limit. Shame on the whole bunch of them.

BillB is right. The first European settlers were warned by the natives of their folly.

Rotterdam is not in the path of regular cyclones like NO is. See what the neighbors do *after* San Francisco gets hit by the Big One.

One day in the not too distant future, the headwaters of the Atchafalaya River, a watercourse that represents a much shorter and steeper path to the ocean, will rob the Mississipi of it's flow, and will thus become the New Mississipi. When that happens, there will no longer be a reason for NO to exist.

None of this has anything to do with compassion.

Just more proof Bushco does not think like Jesus.

Pat, Did you hear W is on the way to help the victims of the Tuesday storms - maybe he has had a change of heart -- NOT!

It's truly ironic that Reagon said that the government is the problem and he has turned out to be right. With those cheap cockroach people in D.C. unwilling to raise anyone's taxes for at least a year and a half the problems keep on festering.

This country belongs to the landowners. The people are part of the environment, like other animals, and serve a similar purpose, except that, for now, you can't eat them, only make them work for enough money to be able to keep working. It really isn't that different from slavery, something the US is well acquainted with. The secret to being rich is to steal and exploit the land and the animals as much as possible.

mlee, if you are going to bail, tell me, you wanna move to heaven, below the snow line but above the cities, in the forest and foothills?

I live in heaven on earth and we got room for more, particularly people that ain't white, too much of anything being too much and all.

Northern California. We call it Norcal. You're invited.

I wish Common Dreams would stop publishing Katrina articles. I am a Katrina victim and it seems that these articles bring out the worst in people including idiots like BillB. Everytime Common Dreams publishes a Katrina article, all the haters come out and froth at the mouthy. I have had people say terrible things to me because I was a Katrina victim. I thought Common Dream readers were progressive and fair minded. Boy I am I fool to think that. Please no more Katrina articles, because I don't want to deal with haters and morons like BillB in these discussions. What if I said that the Tornado victims had no business living where they are living?

" idiots like BillB."

Why is BillB an idiot simply for stating the truth that NO was serious problems regarding it's basic location?

Respond to rest after

Newsworld/CBC were on strike at the time so everyone was watching CNN more than usual. There were all these cries for help from the people in New Orleans. We were prepared to help, but the Canadian military could not evade US soil without permission even to provide disaster relief - and, after gaining permission, it would take us 48 hours to get there. At the time, the US figured they did not need any help after Katrina:

Canadian forces on standby to help Katrina effort

(Not original date)

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1125597613680_121006813/?hub=TopStories

'Just ask and we'll be there,' PM tells Bush

Canadian military puts troops on standby, prepares to load ship with equipment for aid (edited from the Toronto Star)

OTTAWA - Canada will send the United States any help needed in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Prime Minister Paul Martin told President George W. Bush today. ...

The Canadian military put troops on standby and prepared to load a ship with gear and equipment that could be useful in the aftermath of the great storm that wrecked much of the American Gulf Coast and devastated New Orleans.

"I said on your behalf that, if you need help, just ask and we'll be there, now and in the weeks and months ahead. That we will do whatever we can for as long as it takes to help our neighbour and our friend deal with this terrible, terrible tragedy."

Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defence staff, said he spoke with his American counterpart, Gen. Dick Myers, to offer assistance.

He said Myers thanked him, but said the Pentagon is still analyzing what is needed.

Hillier said the military's Disaster Assistance Response Team or DART, which can provide medical care, power and clean water, could head south on 48 hours notice.

He said Canada could provide transport planes or helicopters, electrical generators, water purification systems, small boats for navigating the waterways of the region and engineering equipment and expertise.

He said his staff are planning to load a selection of such gear about a warship to be ready in the event Washington asks for help.

It's best to be prepared, he said.

"We want to help. We believe that's what being friends and allies is all about."

Bill, the problem is that when you only say, "There are some places on this planet that no city should be built and where New Orelans is happens to be one of them", you come across as completely indifferent to the suffering of New Orleaneans.

I strongly suspect that is what people were reacting to.

New Orleans is the end result of a competitive "me first" society. The "me first" life style makes clear that there will be little or no assistance if "you" get into trouble. Just as greed is a good, social darwinism too is a good in the minds of too many Americans. Man has the ability to be civil but has chosen instead to follow the path of the beast.

Start now by forming small independent communities of mutual assistance to counteract the negative influences of corporate governance. It is a good way to enhance you life while also limiting the effects of predatory capitalism.

jakenewton: "Why is BillB an idiot simply for stating the truth that NO was serious problems regarding it's basic location?"

I'm sorry jakenewton for my oversight. I meant to include your name as well. Do you cretins even consider yourself human? Just wondering! I hope America oneday faces an invasion from all four corners of the earth or an major calamity and then you clowns wouldn't be so smug!!!

forextrader: The reason you refuse to answer the question is because you don't have a very good answer right? So you simply resort to name calling. Right? You assume that those who disagree with you are bad people. How very small.

I would ask you instead to *try* and advance the discussion. In a discussion limited to the physical merits of the NO site, what would *you* have to say about it? Thanks in advance for your thoughtful answer.

forextrader: Specifically I wonder what you think of the inevitable drastic change of course of the Mississippi by the eventual course robbing of the Atchafalaya River. Do you think the continued extraordinary efforets by the Army Corps of Engineers to keep the Mississippi River in it's present course is feasable and worth the taxpayers expence?

We're getting off topic here. Blaming New Orleans for being below sea level does not make sense. The folks here are right to point out that The Netherlands (as well as England) have built multi-million dollar levees and flood control equipment that put ours to shame. Even Kansas City built flood control systems after their giant flood many years ago. If the will is there, I truly believe that ANY problem can be solved. In California, we now have building codes that address the next "big one", and have re-enforced all of our highway overpasses. The last time I looked, Minnesota had snow moving equipment, so folks weren't trapped in their homes because of snow. We are smart. Let's think our way out of this.
Iraq is worth calling into question. I have not seen anyone try to defend the use of our military and national treasure to rebuild a country that we destroyed so our president could be better than his daddy. Nine billion dollars is a lot of money to simply lose. How much land could we have bought to make adequate levees with that money?
I have a couple of books as well. Come Hell or High Water, and The Great Deluge. Also, there has been no mention of When the Levees Broke by Spike Lee. If you want to really know what happened, as well as see the horrible eye-walls that the Corps put in, rather than the levees they were SUPPOSED to put in, rent that one. You will understand the anger of people on this board who live in NO, and are still being left behind, (except when Mardi Gras comes around, and we all congratulate ourselves that the party goes on, so everything is cool).
Blaming the victims because their government did not think that they deserved the best protection that money could buy is despicable. People drowned in their own house, for crying out loud. If the chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, we should all be scared to death that we are seeing the beginning of the end of the U.S. If we can't help these folks because they are human beings, innocent of the Corps and the governments cheapskate attitude, let's make this area strong for our OWN sakes. Fifty strong United States are the only way to keep this country viable long-term. A strong country from the inside beats a strong army on the outside. Read the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In the end, it doesn't matter how many garrisons you have in England. If Rome is weak internally, the empire still falls.

"The folks here are right to point out that The Netherlands (as well as England) have built multi-million dollar levees and flood control equipment that put ours to shame. "

But they aren't located both at the *mouth* of a river thatdrains a huge portion of an entire continent while also being directly in the oath of cyclones. That's an important difference.

"If the will is there, I truly believe that ANY problem can be solved"

Really? Any problem at all? Would you suspend costs vs. bebefits analysis or just go on will alone? How do *you* think they should solve the problem of the eventuallity regarding the Atchafalaya River becoming the New Mississippi by robbing the current course of it's flow? And explain why you think it would be worth the effort please.

"Blaming the victims because their government did not think that they deserved the best protection that money could buy is despicable."

Blaming only the government strikes me as an extremely narrow way to view the problem as a whole. You do not break the laws of nature, rather they will break you.