Hurricane Relief

[targa911S]

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
[B]That is not sarcasm. You were ranting about how little was being done. If you watch the news, they are covering what is being done. To imply that nothing is being done is a great slight to many people.



I only know what you are thinking by what you write, and your third post was all about Bush.

I have already said what I wanted to say:

1) The army corp of engineers is trying to fix the levys

2) The army, navy etc. are already doing everything they can.

Jeb...I'm glad you decided what to do with that pie hole. Good choice.

[legion]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/neworleanstragicparadox

In 1718, French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville ignored his engineers' warnings about the hazards of flooding and mapped a settlement in a pinch of swampland between the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and a massive lake to the north.

[1967 R50/2]

Originally posted by targa911S
Jeb...I'm glad you decided what to do with that pie hole. Good choice.

1. Not Jeb.
2. By the fact that you are calling me Jeb, shows you are obsessed with Bush. For the record I did not vote for him.
3. You should read your rants...you sound like you are angry and irrational. Is that the persona you really want to portray? Think hard before you write..because it is easy to come across differently than you expect. It is easy to spout off on the web, but that doesn't always have the best effect.
4. I DO know when to stop...and am stopping now. Let's see if you can do the same. Prove it.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by legion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/neworleanstragicparadox

Thank God we can blame the French -- our all-purpose whipping garcons.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by techweenie
Thank God we can blame the French -- our all-purpose whipping garcons.

If the shoe fits.....

[Rick V]

How can you blame the french? I thought Kattrina was a Russian name!
We havn't started any crap with those folks for a while "bout time don't you think?

[pwd72s]

Actually, the Hurricane was started by Haliburton engineers, as a distraction from the Supreme Court nominations...

[rrpjr]

As I have no intention of ever giving a dime to the Red Cross, I refer all who are interested to this list of charities for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Catholic Charities http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/katrina.cfm
is involved, and probably has lots of resources to draw on in the heavily Catholic New Orleans area.

Austin Bay is recommending Episcopal Relief and Development. http://www.er-d.org/

Liz at Rightalk suggests that animal lovers donate to the Humane Society.https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005?

Here's a link to Mennonite Disaster Services. The Sanity Inspector says they're highly efficient.http://www.mds.mennonite.net/

Here's the link for Methodist Relief.http://www.methodistrelief.org/site/pp.asp?c=bhKNI4PHIpE&b=876335

Lisa Larkin recommends Operation Blessing.http://www.ob.org/

The Salvation Army does good work. (WalMart just gave them a million dollars, but that's just the barest beginning of what's needed.)http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

Hugh Hewitt recommends Samaritan's Purse
http://www.samaritanspurse.com/

Scott Ott recommends Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.http://www.namb.net/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.224451/k.7BDB/Disaster_Relief_Homepage.htm

United Jewish Charities.http://www.ujc.org/

[cool_chick]

Ok, what's happening in N.O. is breaking my heart.

[techweenie]

My money goes to the Red Cross.

Incidentally, some Islamic extremists today gave Katrina a 'rank' in the jihadist movement and applauded her successful attack on the U.S.

Scumbags.

[Carl Bauer]

Originally posted by rrpjr
As I have no intention of ever giving a dime to the Red Cross, I refer all who are interested to this list of charities for Hurricane Katrina relief. [/url]

What on Earth is wrong with the Red Cross?

[artplumber]

Donate blood too, not just money. There are going to be a lot of sick/injured out there.

[rrpjr]

Originally posted by EJ11HHF
What on Earth is wrong with the Red Cross?

Bloat and mismanagement. Charities may be measured by the percentage of donation which makes it to actual relief. The Red Cross has one of the lowest percentages. Perhaps because they have some of the highest paid executives. I am not interested in my charity subsidizing an expense account. There are usually better, local and more efficient alternatives.

[Carl Bauer]

The Red Cross is one of the few charities doing work in the Mississippi/Louisiana area right now. If they're there now they're welcome to some of my $.

[Fishcop]

Originally posted by Mike Andrew
Was thinking this A.M. as I watched the news about how quickly the U.S responded to the tsunami with relief to the region.
Unless I've missed something, there seems to be a lack of relief offers coming from any of our "friends" around the globe. Should that not change, perhaps we, as a nation, should keep that in mind for the future.
Just an observation.

Just going back to the initial discussion...

The tsunami was in a very third-world location, and no-body saw it coming. Living here in Australia made it quite a close thing, and I was amazed at just how deep Aussie's pockets were. America (if we are "timing" these things) was actually a little "late" in response and was unfairly critisized for it.

I have ABSOLUTELY no doubt that if you guys ask for it, your true allies (the same ones they've always been) will be there as fast as humanly possible. But I don't think you can compare the two events as being politically similar, and to consider that a third world nation could pay the US back in kind is pretty unrealistic.

[jyl]

Whether the Red Cross or some other legitimate charity, let's help. I mean, if I waited for the perfect 100% efficient relief organization, I'd probably never donate and then would spend the money on a TV that I don't really need anyway. I decided to get off my dime and click the button. There's a horrible thing going on. Millions of people just like all of us have lost everything and tens of thousands don't even have drinkable water or shelter.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by Fishcop
Just going back to the initial discussion...

The tsunami was in a very third-world location, and no-body saw it coming. Living here in Australia made it quite a close thing, and I was amazed at just how deep Aussie's pockets were. America (if we are "timing" these things) was actually a little "late" in response and was unfairly critisized for it.

I have ABSOLUTELY no doubt that if you guys ask for it, your true allies (the same ones they've always been) will be there as fast as humanly possible. But I don't think you can compare the two events as being politically similar, and to consider that a third world nation could pay the US back in kind is pretty unrealistic.

And in truth, the U.S. official response to the tsunami was not quick and initially embarrassingly small: $1.5 million, then $30 million. Ultimately, the U.S. was very generous -- both in terms of public and private response.

Regarding Katrina, other countries have pledged money and goods, but for whatever reason, the media reporting is minimal.

[jyl]

Oh, getting back to the original question of this thread:

Associated Press

From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States.

The storm was seen as an equalizer — proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.

Should the nations of central Europe, or any nation, help the United States rebuild the Gulf Coast?

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday 10 to 12 foreign governments have offered general assistance to the United States to deal with the hurricane aftermath. No decision has been reached about accepting the offers.

Venezuela's government, which has had tense relations with Washington, offered humanitarian aid and fuel if requested.

Throughout Europe, concerned citizens lamented the loss of life and the damage caused to New Orleans, often described as one of North America's most "European" cities.

The U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland — a capital at the foot of the Alps hit by flooding last week — said calls were rushing in from Swiss individuals and institutions looking for a way to donate to relief efforts.

"We are getting calls from the Swiss public looking to express their condolences, (and) people are also asking for an account number where they can make donations," said spokesman Daniel Wendell.

The Internet-edition of the Vienna daily Der Standard had recorded 820 postings commenting on a front-page story on the hurricane. In one of the postings, signature "Emerald" asked where money could be donated to the victims, but the question sparked a debate about whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid.

In response, one posting, from signature "far out," argued that hurricane victims who are poor still needed support.

Amid the sympathy, however, there was criticism.

As U.S. military engineers struggled to shore up breached levees, experts in the Netherlands expressed surprise that New Orleans' flood systems failed to restrain the raging waters.

With half of the country's population of 16 million living below sea level, the Netherlands prepared for a "perfect storm" soon after floods in 1953 killed 2,000 people. The nation installed massive hydraulic sea walls.

The sympathy was muted in some corners by a sense that the United States reaped what it sowed, since the country is seen as the main contributor to global warming.

Joern Ehlers, a spokesman for World Wildlife Fund Germany, said global warming had increased the intensity of hurricanes.

But Harlan L. Watson, the U.S. envoy for negotiations on climate change, denied any link between global warming and the strength of storms.

Whether aid is sent, most nations did offer sympathy.

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent messages of sympathy to President Bush. China's President Hu Jintao and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II also sent messages of condolence.


This AP story can be found at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20050831-1619-katrina-world.html and other news sources. The international reaction isn't getting much if any press, understandably, most stories are about what is going on in New Orleans right now.

[tcar]

The Red Cross has been pretty well overhauled after much criticism after the 9-11 disaster (too much money to 'infrastructure'). They're doing a very good job now. They're (and the Salvation Army) much better at huge disasters.

Salvation Army is also very good.

Patching the levees is almost impossible until the water level stabilizes on both sides - the current is just too strong. It's level now, but there is no power for the pumps when they do patch them.

NO was not below sea level when it was started, but it is now. It's just silt under the city and it settles when you pump water out from under it.

Dikes = levees, Dykes = well, dykes

[turbo6bar]

Originally posted by tcar
Patching the levees is almost impossible until the water level stabilizes on both sides - the current is just too strong. It's level now, but there is no power for the pumps when they do patch them.

The levels have stabilized now, but the problem is getting the concrete barriers and huge sand bags to the levee. You can't exactly back up the deuce n a-half trucks up to the broken wall and dump your cargo. Rivers are blocked and un-navigable, so this is a really tough project.

Originally posted by tcar
NO was not below sea level when it was started, but it is now. It's just silt under the city and it settles when you pump water out from under it.

True, but ya gotta question the wisdom of building on swampland.