SkinsHokieFan Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Its interesting how much of a difference local leadership makes http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402334.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 Not Another KatrinaWildfire response shows why California is the gold standard. Thursday, October 25, 2007; Page A24 IN THEIR vivid reporting yesterday on the conditions at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Post reporters William Booth and Sonya Geis didn't have to mention the horror that was the Superdome two years ago for readers to draw a comparison. The 7,500 evacuees at Qualcomm have cots and tents, plenty of water and a variety of foods, arts and crafts for children, crisis counseling, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, and AA meetings for adults. In New Orleans, 24,000 people seeking refuge at the Superdome were bereft of food, water and hope. President Bush's response to the country's worst natural disaster since the shame of New Orleans has a lesson-learned quality to it. His emergency declaration Tuesday freed up federal staff and equipment for the state. By that afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA chief R. David Paulison were on the ground. Yesterday the president approved a disaster declaration, which opens a flow of housing, small-business and other federal assistance, and today he will tour the area. Some will be tempted to attribute the quick action exclusively to race. After all, San Diego County, where most of the more than 800,000 wildfire evacuees live, is predominantly white (66 percent) and well-to-do (9 percent poverty rate) compared to the mostly African American (67 percent) and poor (28 percent poverty rate) victims of New Orleans. But that would be simplistic. Because of well-organized disaster preparedness planning at the state and regional levels and drills that are continually performed, California is considered the gold standard of emergency response. After devastating fires in 2003, San Diego County invested in the automated reverse 911 system, which this week urged San Diego County residents to evacuate. And Californians have something that Louisianans, in particular those in New Orleans, didn't have when they needed it most: leadership, in this case from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the San Diego mayor on down. That there have been just five fatalities in an inferno that has burned an area twice the size of New York City shows what can result from clear and coordinated leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 Its interesting how much of a difference local leadership makes http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402334.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 Not Another KatrinaWildfire response shows why California is the gold standard. Thursday, October 25, 2007; Page A24 IN THEIR vivid reporting yesterday on the conditions at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Post reporters William Booth and Sonya Geis didn't have to mention the horror that was the Superdome two years ago for readers to draw a comparison. The 7,500 evacuees at Qualcomm have cots and tents, plenty of water and a variety of foods, arts and crafts for children, crisis counseling, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, and AA meetings for adults. In New Orleans, 24,000 people seeking refuge at the Superdome were bereft of food, water and hope. President Bush's response to the country's worst natural disaster since the shame of New Orleans has a lesson-learned quality to it. His emergency declaration Tuesday freed up federal staff and equipment for the state. By that afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FEMA chief R. David Paulison were on the ground. Yesterday the president approved a disaster declaration, which opens a flow of housing, small-business and other federal assistance, and today he will tour the area. Some will be tempted to attribute the quick action exclusively to race. After all, San Diego County, where most of the more than 800,000 wildfire evacuees live, is predominantly white (66 percent) and well-to-do (9 percent poverty rate) compared to the mostly African American (67 percent) and poor (28 percent poverty rate) victims of New Orleans. But that would be simplistic. Because of well-organized disaster preparedness planning at the state and regional levels and drills that are continually performed, California is considered the gold standard of emergency response. After devastating fires in 2003, San Diego County invested in the automated reverse 911 system, which this week urged San Diego County residents to evacuate. And Californians have something that Louisianans, in particular those in New Orleans, didn't have when they needed it most: leadership, in this case from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the San Diego mayor on down. That there have been just five fatalities in an inferno that has burned an area twice the size of New York City shows what can result from clear and coordinated leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I must admit that, while race did enter my mind at first, because California has had disasters in the past, it had contigency plans already in place for such an event. Despite the warnings, New Orleans just wasn't prepared for the catastrophe that struck it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I must admit that, while race did enter my mind at first, because California has had disasters in the past, it had contigency plans already in place for such an event. Despite the warnings, New Orleans just wasn't prepared for the catastrophe that struck it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 While I agree the locals efforts(and feds) are much better planned and executed and should be commended,there is no comparing fires and hurricanes. nor of course, New Orleans and San Diego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 While I agree the locals efforts(and feds) are much better planned and executed and should be commended,there is no comparing fires and hurricanes. nor of course, New Orleans and San Diego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 While I agree the locals efforts(and feds) are much better planned and executed and should be commended,there is no comparing fires and hurricanes.nor of course, New Orleans and San Diego. Yea, New Orleans is a much better party town :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 While I agree the locals efforts(and feds) are much better planned and executed and should be commended,there is no comparing fires and hurricanes.nor of course, New Orleans and San Diego. Yea, New Orleans is a much better party town :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Yea, New Orleans is a much better party town :laugh: I've visited San Diego and it ain't half bad. And the women are beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stwasm Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Yea, New Orleans is a much better party town :laugh: I've visited San Diego and it ain't half bad. And the women are beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Some will be tempted to attribute the quick action exclusively to race. First thing I thought of... Damned if he does, damned if he doesnt respond well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mike Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Some will be tempted to attribute the quick action exclusively to race. First thing I thought of... Damned if he does, damned if he doesnt respond well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 FEDERALISM!!! What a novel concept. It's sad Louisiana forgot about it two years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 FEDERALISM!!! What a novel concept. It's sad Louisiana forgot about it two years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81artmonk Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I must admit that, while race did enter my mind at first, because California has had disasters in the past, it had contigency plans already in place for such an event. Despite the warnings, New Orleans just wasn't prepared for the catastrophe that struck it. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: A good question would be why?? They(new orleans) knew the chances, they knew it would happen at some point, why were they not prepared?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81artmonk Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I must admit that, while race did enter my mind at first, because California has had disasters in the past, it had contigency plans already in place for such an event. Despite the warnings, New Orleans just wasn't prepared for the catastrophe that struck it. :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: A good question would be why?? They(new orleans) knew the chances, they knew it would happen at some point, why were they not prepared?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I'm going to post one post in this thread: You need to STFU about local leadership in New Orleans. If you weren't there, you don't know what happened. You ask a single person from New Orleans if there was a god damn thing that Nagin could have done, and every single person will tell you he did the best he could have done. And I didnt even support him in his last election. W ****ed that up so bad. His whole administration ****ed that up. If you weren't there you need to stop making asinine comments like this... all of you. Adding on: I'm sorry, this pisses me off so much. It's not even remotely the same. The whole ****ing city was underwater. NO STATE, not even California - by the way I lived in San Diego for two years before moving to New Orleans - could have afforded to secure those levees. Only the Federal government could have afforded it. The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT knew just as well as the local government what would have happened. Instead, the fed sluffed it off. There was NO WAY the state of Louisiana could have afforded to build adequate levees, and the federal government knew that and ignored it. Jesus Christ. So pissed off right now. Katrina was a goddamn disaster and I'm sick of *******s trying to make it a political thing. Federal government blew this whole ****ing thing. I don't give a rats ass who was in charge... it was blown for about 40 years, as a matter of fact. But what pissed people off about Bush was his total disinterested manner in responding at all. And now I have to listen to *******s come on here and blame the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana for this. Seriously, you are a joke. Go down there and help rebuild, then you can make an ******* comment like: see california can do it, new orleans was just run by a bunch of dumbasses. stfu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I'm going to post one post in this thread: You need to STFU about local leadership in New Orleans. If you weren't there, you don't know what happened. You ask a single person from New Orleans if there was a god damn thing that Nagin could have done, and every single person will tell you he did the best he could have done. And I didnt even support him in his last election. W ****ed that up so bad. His whole administration ****ed that up. If you weren't there you need to stop making asinine comments like this... all of you. Adding on: I'm sorry, this pisses me off so much. It's not even remotely the same. The whole ****ing city was underwater. NO STATE, not even California - by the way I lived in San Diego for two years before moving to New Orleans - could have afforded to secure those levees. Only the Federal government could have afforded it. The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT knew just as well as the local government what would have happened. Instead, the fed sluffed it off. There was NO WAY the state of Louisiana could have afforded to build adequate levees, and the federal government knew that and ignored it. Jesus Christ. So pissed off right now. Katrina was a goddamn disaster and I'm sick of *******s trying to make it a political thing. Federal government blew this whole ****ing thing. I don't give a rats ass who was in charge... it was blown for about 40 years, as a matter of fact. But what pissed people off about Bush was his total disinterested manner in responding at all. And now I have to listen to *******s come on here and blame the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana for this. Seriously, you are a joke. Go down there and help rebuild, then you can make an ******* comment like: see california can do it, new orleans was just run by a bunch of dumbasses. stfu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hmm. Let's see. The Superdome was severely damaged by Katrina, while Qualcom has not been touched. This is just a stupid comparison. Right away, let's make it about race :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hmm. Let's see. The Superdome was severely damaged by Katrina, while Qualcom has not been touched. This is just a stupid comparison. Right away, let's make it about race :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Frankly, I don't give a flying fig if you were there. And if you're that passionate over a post on a message board, and if it's YOUR city, YOU go down there and help rebuild. Hindsight is 20/20. If Louisiana knew the levees were in such bad shape, why did they wait for a Hurricane to prove it? Katrina was a disaster because Blanco and Nagin sat idly by and didn't do squat to prepare or mitigate it. The people of New Orleans paid the consequences of their failed leadership. They failed the people of New Orleans, they KNEW they failed the people of New Orleans, and they pointed their fingers to the Federal scapegoat. The day the Federal government is responsible for the duties and responsibilities of state and local governments is the day this great republic dies. And if Nagin and Blanco had the onions to own up and say, "Hey, our bad, we didn't prepare like we should've", this tragedy wouldn't have been politicized to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Frankly, I don't give a flying fig if you were there. And if you're that passionate over a post on a message board, and if it's YOUR city, YOU go down there and help rebuild. Hindsight is 20/20. If Louisiana knew the levees were in such bad shape, why did they wait for a Hurricane to prove it? Katrina was a disaster because Blanco and Nagin sat idly by and didn't do squat to prepare or mitigate it. The people of New Orleans paid the consequences of their failed leadership. They failed the people of New Orleans, they KNEW they failed the people of New Orleans, and they pointed their fingers to the Federal scapegoat. The day the Federal government is responsible for the duties and responsibilities of state and local governments is the day this great republic dies. And if Nagin and Blanco had the onions to own up and say, "Hey, our bad, we didn't prepare like we should've", this tragedy wouldn't have been politicized to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Frankly, I don't give a flying fig if you were there. And if you're that passionate over a post on a message board, and if it's YOUR city, YOU go down there and help rebuild. Hindsight is 20/20. If Louisiana knew the levees were in such bad shape, why did they wait for a Hurricane to prove it? Katrina was a disaster because Blanco and Nagin sat idly by and didn't do squat to prepare or mitigate it. The people of New Orleans paid the consequences of their failed leadership. They failed the people of New Orleans, they KNEW they failed the people of New Orleans, and they pointed their fingers to the Federal scapegoat. The day the Federal government is responsible for the duties and responsibilities of state and local governments is the day this great republic dies. And if Nagin and Blanco had the onions to own up and say, "Hey, our bad, we didn't prepare like we should've", this tragedy wouldn't have been politicized to begin with. hey *******, I did go back. I went back in January, found my apartment destroyed and looted, moved, had my landlord run to nyc with 5000 of my and my roommates money, and yet I went back. You'll never know what it was like to be there. I drove into New Orleans in JANUARY and thought I would be dead within a week. Literally, I thought I was going to die. I had no place to stay. But now I have to listen to this ****? I have to listen to you say you don't care if my life was affected by it, but YOU are going to tell ME what happened there and what went wrong? You are what's wrong with this country. New Orleans still needs help, but all you want to do is say, hey look, somebody else can handle something entirerly different a little better. stfu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Frankly, I don't give a flying fig if you were there. And if you're that passionate over a post on a message board, and if it's YOUR city, YOU go down there and help rebuild. Hindsight is 20/20. If Louisiana knew the levees were in such bad shape, why did they wait for a Hurricane to prove it? Katrina was a disaster because Blanco and Nagin sat idly by and didn't do squat to prepare or mitigate it. The people of New Orleans paid the consequences of their failed leadership. They failed the people of New Orleans, they KNEW they failed the people of New Orleans, and they pointed their fingers to the Federal scapegoat. The day the Federal government is responsible for the duties and responsibilities of state and local governments is the day this great republic dies. And if Nagin and Blanco had the onions to own up and say, "Hey, our bad, we didn't prepare like we should've", this tragedy wouldn't have been politicized to begin with. hey *******, I did go back. I went back in January, found my apartment destroyed and looted, moved, had my landlord run to nyc with 5000 of my and my roommates money, and yet I went back. You'll never know what it was like to be there. I drove into New Orleans in JANUARY and thought I would be dead within a week. Literally, I thought I was going to die. I had no place to stay. But now I have to listen to this ****? I have to listen to you say you don't care if my life was affected by it, but YOU are going to tell ME what happened there and what went wrong? You are what's wrong with this country. New Orleans still needs help, but all you want to do is say, hey look, somebody else can handle something entirerly different a little better. stfu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsknbill Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 :munchout: This ought to be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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