'Get Off The Fucking Freeway'

by sourcer Wed Sep 07, 2005 14:12

Original source of article:
http://www.metamute.com/look/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrIssue=24&NrSection=5&NrArticle=1523

Other related articles:

Jamie King 'The Real War of the Worlds'
http://jamie.com/archives/20
Xeni Jardin 'Al-Cajun? Army Times calls NOLA Katrina victims "the insurgency"'
http://linkme2.net/5f

by secondclasscitizen Thu Sep 08, 2005 18:04

I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html

If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I was peering through the fence at a concentration camp.
http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/4820.php

FEMA Forbids You to View These Images
http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/4769.php

by Anthony Thu Sep 08, 2005 18:16

An excellent first-hand account of surviving Hurricane Katrina which pays tribute to the heroism of the ordinary working people in the face of catastrophe.

The author describes how food spoiled in shop windows in plain view while police chase away looters, how people co-operated and worked together once they had food and water, how families were repeatedly faced with violence and the threat of violence from the police and how they were prevented from evacuating New Orleans on foot despite the fact that the only two official shelters were already over-crowded.

It seems there was a definite policy of preventing groups of people coalesce and work together as a community - particularly if they were camping in a public place viewable by the mainstream media. If more than 20 people joined together, they were seen as a threat to state forces and had to be dispersed.

"This was a process we saw repeatedly in the aftermath of Katrina. When individuals had to fight to find food or water, it meant looking out for yourself only. You had to do whatever it took to find water for your kids or food for your parents. When these basic needs were met, people began to look out for each other, working together and constructing a community."

by Shipsea Thu Sep 08, 2005 18:36

Let's hope this gets out on the newswires fast.

by kintama Fri Sep 09, 2005 00:21

The destruction of this community is symptomatic of a state that worships at the altar of unfettered capitalism.
What a contrast with the Cuban experience of Katrina of which Nelson Valdes Latin American specialist University of New Mexico said, " the whole civil defense is embedded in the community to begin with . People know ahead of time where they are to go".
Cuban leaders did not go on holiday during the hurricane, they led, ensuring communities were evacuated with local doctors who knew medical histories to safe shelters on higher ground.They even arranged for pets and valuables such as TVs to be moved, a degree of organisation so sadly lacking in the US. While 20,000 houses were destroyed there were no deaths.
Fidel Castro said Cuba had been preparing for such a devestating hurricane for decades, Bush cut budgets for FEMA and critically he cut the budget for levee construction in New Orleans by 45%.
Small wonder then that his vice president was greeted by the immortal words "Fuck off Mr Cheney " when he finally managed to get his fat white arse down to the region.
Before Al , Noel et al start on the old , 'go and live in Cuba if you like it so much ' shit go and ask some of the black ,working class residents of New Orleans who were so shamefully betrayed what they now think about the 'land of the free'.

by Al Fri Sep 09, 2005 13:57

I didnt say a word. Folow the links provided, they offer a better insight into this story.

by iosaf Fri Sep 09, 2005 16:52

Friday 16th September is "national prayer day for the victims of Katrina" the date has been set by President Bush.
Meanwhile, debit cards have been distributed to the disaster survivors to assist their family unit allocation of approximately 2000$.

Let us reflect, that it has taken less than 2 weeks for the return of the debit card, a sure sign of order being restored. Meanwhile aid is reaching the poorest states of the USA from Mexico and the EU now.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4227974.stm

by iosaf Sat Sep 10, 2005 15:20

The New Orleans prison camp has been opened in the last hours.
Located at the former Greyhound intercity and interstate Bus station, the camp will be home to an announced capacity figure of 220 looting suspects.
They will be interned there till trial. It is unclear what law they are being held under, and it is clear that normal rights have been disposed of.
I told you (in a way most would have thought ridiculous) in "the survival tips" [linked to the feature article on main page] all you needed to know, about how disasters and surviving them works. Fox TV the "lowest common denominator" public info system in the USA last night advised people to "keep their hands clean". And those who used their radios did indeed find that GM food and credit cards return "mighty quick". Those who are being interned are those who carried arms, had ample cigarettes with no obvious reason (they didn't run the only dixie kkk pub to stay open all storm season) or had refused to leave certain now "quarantined" areas of the former city.

http://libe.com/page.php?Article=322714
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050909-122226-7515r.htm

by iosaf Sat Sep 10, 2005 22:47

Dogs are now being shot in New Orleans.
This really doesn't help the morale of locals who stayed on because of their dogs, but you know how it goes, that doggie has better kidneys and liver than you and will not seem sick till its real sick. And that doggie has a fine nose and is very territorial. It finds food you wouldn't, and eats it and doesn't give a damn why you're in its garden.
Before it dies from horrible toxins and bacteria, your doggie goes near rabid.

What can we learn from this?
Doggies like Prisoners ought be high on the evacuation list. The average american doesn't give a shit about poor people or prisoners, but doggies thats different.
Doggies are constitutional. You've never read "no prisoner or combattant or real poor person was harmed in the making of this movie" have you? No. All of this adds up.
Straw upon straw. Its meta-narrative and as they wonder now will N.O. kids newly arrived in Heuston not drop out of school, and they wonder at the work 12 year olds are capable of doing for free, to be heroic......

It is very likely that the next US federal disaster management will face morale crises before the chains of organisation break down. Thats horrible. So thats why kids we're going to do our best globally to prepare ye, above average inteligent people with strong community values.