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RE: [RC] News from Louisiana - VERY OT - Nell LindquistDear Heidi, Thanks so much for your graciousness, I was really afraid that I'd gotten a bit too passionate! I agree, there ARE lots of people who could have helped themselves, but I can't blame people who DID follow instructions for now being so angry. It's all part of the "American myth" that we are constantly fed - we're the greatest country on earth, we're so priviledged, blah blah blah. We are a country, made up of fallible human beings, just like every other country and we are no better - and because of this myth - usually MUCH worse at dealing with crises, because so many people in America believe that it just can't happen to us. I still can't blame people for being angry, it's a very natural human emotion. We'll just agree to disagree and GET BACK TO THE TOPIC OF ENDURANCE OF THE EQUINE VARIETY! Thanks again, a good dialogue is always energizing. ---NELL P.S. Believe it or not, I'm right in the middle of working on huge research project focusing on the effects of climate change on the U.S. Gulf coast. For the past two years, I have been hearing many of the engineers, hydrologists, ecologists, biologists, geologists, etc. who are now all over the news media talking about this very type of event - the prescience is downright eerie! --- heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: Nell, I do understand and appreciate all you are saying. And I tried in my post to underscore the fact that I have every sympathy for these people. But in any natural disaster of this magnitude, it is simply physically IMPOSSIBLE to get supplies to or to rescue everyone RIGHT NOW. NO government can do that. The planes are flying and the rescue efforts are in full force, but it still takes time to reach everyone. The point I was trying to make is how ANGRY these people are, which was in response to Maryanne's observation that in third world countries, people have a far more realistic understanding of disaster, and are far more polite about waiting for aid. The news shots I saw of stranded tourists were sad, tearful, homesick, etc.--but they did not have the ANGER that the poorer Americans did. As for a screwup in disaster planning--the news reports that over a third of the people who were asked to evacuate and who COULD have been evacuated just flat refused. And now they are ANGRY? Additionally, as I previously mentioned, even the poor could have stockpiled water before the storm. That is just simple common sense. The government is not the only party involved here. People CAN and MUST take a little bit of self-responsibility in any disaster. Like you, I don't begrudge a bit of my tax money that goes for disaster relief. There but for the grace of God go I. But as for problems with the disaster response, there are doctors and nurses with portable ERs set up, neonatal patients in hospitals were airlifted out (some of their parents didn't even know they had gone), water and food are being dropped in many locations, etc. But how do you "plan" when a third of the people of a city that large refused to budge when they had the opportunity? You do the best you can, but it does stretch the supply lines... Heidi PS: It also intrigues me to see more anger over an event that was predicted and known in advance than over things that have happened without warning... Human nature is sure odd. I get the impression from the anger of some of the people that the government should have been able to stop the hurricane somehow.... PPS: I was talking yesterday to a friend who works for the federal government in a different capacity, and he said that a major hurricane in the Gulf was listed as one of the top three worst possible natural disasters that could hit this country. I'm not surprised. I think we Americans have sat back and watched stuff like this happen in other countries, and have often not come to grips with the concept that we are not immune. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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