<p>I have two other observations about all this. First, with the exception of Germany, who offered money, NO ONE offered us any help. I don’t see our Saudi "friends"offering to lift the oil caps. I don’t see anyone offering doctors and volunteers. We built up the world after WWII. We have all kinds of foreign aid programs for years, and we are getting nothing back! Doesn’t this shock you?</p>
<p>Secondly, I consider what is happening in New Orleans with looting, rioting, raping etc. a forerunner of things to come if we ever have a major disaster hit this country such as meteor, war etc. If we do have a situation with numerous deaths and the elimination of services, I am not sure that the survivers will have anything to celebrate!</p>
<p>Actually, Chavez of Venezuala offered to help right away–with extra oil supplies as they are the 5th largest producer in the world. Venezuala has a refinery above New orleans and has already given assistance to that local community.</p>
<p>(Take that, Pat Robertson).</p>
<p>Second, I do think the particularly parse socioeconomic condition of New orleans was an invitation to disaster. Those people may have been left behind because they were all but invisible to that society–and the wider media too. They had to be rolled up in sheets next to the Superdome before the drum beats started. That is the sad reality. </p>
<p>I agree, the aftermath has wide ranging implications for western society as we perform best–with electricity and all the bells and whistles.</p>
<p>barrons, you jest, but the issue right to bear arms was a thought of mine as I watched the first pictures of those thousands lined up to go into the Superdome–before the hurricane. My alarm bells were ringing.</p>
<p>New Orleans had something of a precarious law and order situation to begin with…</p>
<p>Maybe we should start being a little more modest about constantly referring to ourselves as “the world’s only super power” …along with a lot of other behaviors we should reconsider…</p>
<p>Well, Taxguy, you did see War of the Worlds?</p>
<p>Anyway, everyone has known for ages, or they should know, New Orleans had a very high crime rate before this insident. It was not the kind of city you could walk around in late at night. However, there seems to be more and more cities in the U.S. with terrible crime rates and which are down right dangerous after dark these days. And the nature of human beings…is to be very selfish.But really, many people are working very hard to help. And the amount of aid to come will be phenomenal.Really, the best as can be had in the world. </p>
<p>Taxguy, you have to remember the U.S.A. is not Europe and never was and never will be . We always took all the “tired and poor” the “huddled masses yearning to be free.” And were it not for our massive immigration today, we would be in a perilous decline concerning our birth rate and facing displacement, as Russia and most of Europe will experience by the end of this century.
So it ain’t perfect but after 200 years we are still holding strong. And remember one of the first ammendments to the Constitution is the right to bear arms. Now , why would our founding fathers have put that there if not for a reason? </p>
<p>Personally, I think education is the key. Education , plus lock up the crazies and criminals.</p>
<p>Canada had planes of relief supplies ready to send and were told they weren’t needed by the federal government. However, the Province of BC dealt directly with the governor of LA and has sent search and rescue personel.</p>
<p>I believe at last count more than 25 countries had offered help.</p>
<p>the President’s mouthpiece…McClellan I think his name is? said yesterday at his briefing that the “US takes care of its own” and has not asked for help from its allies or world counterparts.</p>
<p>taxguy, you’re mistaken. I’m currently in Toronto dropping D3 off at college and the federal government of Canada, and most of its provincial governments, have offered all kinds of aid, right from the beginning of the week. The PM’s office and the various Premiers’ offices have repeatedly said “anything you want or need, we will send to you”. There are also large fundraising drives underway amongst Canadian businesses, banks, and corporations and hundreds of large donations have already been announced. Most of these groups have offered to match any additional contributions made by their employees. It doesn’t take much research to get this information. Making the statement you did at a time like this serves little purpose and just unnecessarily adds to the controversy surrounding this catastrophe.</p>
<p>fendergirl, if the statement in that article about the other countries is as accurate as what it says about Canada, I wouldn’t put much stock in it. I’ve been in Toronto all week and there have been offers of help, both official and unofficial, since Tuesday on the news (and probably behind the scenes before that). I can’t imagine why they would quote Stockwell Day. He’s considered a laughable politician here in Canada and was even ousted as leader of the Alliance Party, which if you know anything about Canadian politics, says a lot.</p>
<p>I found this information from USA Today about poor countries’ reactions especially moving:</p>
<p>" College students in Jamaica set up a disaster relief fund. A Bosnian TV station announced it would collect donations.</p>
<p>In Indonesia’s Aceh province, where more than 178,000 were killed by the Dec. 26 tsunami, residents are praying for Katrina’s victims, said Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, provincial reconstruction chief.</p>
<p>Iran, which has not had diplomatic ties with the United States since Islamist students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran 26 years ago, extended its sympathies.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, France said it would send relief teams from the French Antilles in the Caribbean, and President Jacques Chirac sent a message of solidarity to Bush. </p>
<p>Italy readied two military transport planes to carry supplies to New Orleans. It said it would send pumps, generators, tents and disaster experts. Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers for those killed and displaced by the ferocious storm and flooding. </p>
<p>In Havana, Castro and Cuban parliamentarians stood for a minute of silence. “The whole world should feel that this tragedy is its own,” Speaker Ricardo Alarcon said."</p>
<p>CNN was running commentary all day yesterday re: ongoing offers of help from other countries, including offers of oil from the Saudis. I forget which country, but someone offered $500M.</p>