who to blame for katrina?

[wildblue 7]

Who's responsible for the massive death and destruction in NOLA?

a) Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (this is Robert Kennedy Jr's pick)
b) President George Bush (yes, people are pinning this on him because of the war in Iraq)
c) Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (not being prepared, then failing to respond quickly)
d) New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (allowing the levvies to deteriorate over the years)
e) God - according to Pat R. and the guy outside my office with a bible, God just punished NOLA for Mardi Gras
f) The victims (for not getting out of the way)
g) The French
h) No one.... it's a natural occurance that's been happening since the begining of time. Often times it changes the face of the earth - this happened to be one of those times, and we were in the way.

My money is on "h" ... maybe "g"

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[lisamariewillbe 1]

The french , blame everything on them

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[NWFlyer 2]

i) Justin Timberlake (I mean, really, doesn't he just look guilty?)
j) Bill Clinton (seems like someone will figure out a way to blame him)
k) The guy who played Skippy on Family Ties.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skycat 0]

There isn't one answer, because it was a chain of events that started with g, hopped up to d, could have been stopped at f, but ultimately ended with h.

Fly it like you stole it!

[Ashtanga 0]

You can blame it on the rain
Cos the rain don't mind
And the rain don't care
You got to blame it on something
(Blame it on the rain)
Whatever you do don't put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah, yeah
You can blame it on the rain

[wildblue 7]

Quote

Justin Timberlake

Well, he did cause the whole wardrobe malfunction debacle. You might be onto something.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[lisamariewillbe 1]

because I had to read your singing and I actually could HEAR in my head the words I am adding a pack job to your pimp fee,

Sudsy Fist: i don't think i'd ever say this
Sudsy Fist: but you're looking damn sudsydoable in this

[Elisha 1]

Quote

You can blame it on the rain
Cos the rain don't mind
And the rain don't care
You got to blame it on something
(Blame it on the rain)
Whatever you do don't put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah, yeah
You can blame it on the rain

And the wind too.

[mailin 0]

Whoever it was who 50 years ago decided putting those levees in place was a good idea

The LA gov, who despite warnings as much as 50 years ago that building such a big city BELOW sea level was a bad idea, and still went through with it.


Guess they don't think that was such a hot idea now huh?


Jen

Arianna Frances

[markd_nscr986 0]

GWB...........everything is his fault!

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[Rebecca 0]

Is that Milli Vanilli?



Blame Canada, those no-hurricane-having abutters!

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[NWFlyer 2]

Oh, maybe we should ask, "What would Brian Boitano do?"

Maybe he's got some good ideas...

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Rebecca 0]

Bwahahaha!!

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[lawrocket 3]

Jeez. Are you an attorney? Looking to sue someone who could be found liable for it?

Personally, I prefer to blame a hurricane for it. Much like I blamed the earthquake for hammering LA in 1994, and I blamed the earthquake for the tsunami last year.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Ashtanga 0]

Yes. They are my idols. Milli Vanilli ROCKS!

You got something to say about it?

[smooth 0]

When The Levee Breaks
(Bonham/Jones/Page/Plant/Memphis Minnie)

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break, (X2)
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, (X2)
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.

Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

All last night sat on the levee and moaned, (X2)
Thinkin' about me baby and my happy home.
Going, going to Chicago... Going to Chicago... Sorry but I can't take you...
Going down... going down now... going down....

(Adam & Eve are to blame)
--------------------

[wildblue 7]

Quote

Jeez. Are you an attorney? Looking to sue someone who could be found liable for it?

... ahem...

Quote

My money is on "h" ... maybe "g"

Quote

The LA gov, who despite warnings as much as 50 years ago that building such a big city BELOW sea level was a bad idea, and still went through with it.

And whoever built Pompeii next to a volcano... real genius there. And Rungholt... who builds a city that close to the sea?! And Port Royal - hello?!? What were you thinking?! And just wait until CA slides into the ocean, we can all say "we told you so"

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[goose491 0]

Here's where the crazy-side-of-the-street-ramblin'-prophet in me comes out.

Who's to blame? The impure at heart. Simply put: Natural disasters on the uprise, a direct result of fast, impure and immoral living.

Does that label each victim an evil-dooer? Does it imply that the areas affected most have a higher percentage of evil in their mists? Of course, I don't believe it does per say.

We as a people have been asking for as long as we knew how to ask: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer? Because we are all one, and we must all pay together for the evils commited by our own.

"These storms are to be the first of the great levellers."
-Legion

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[mailin 0]

I think Pompeii is a poor comparison considering that the technology did not exist to fully understand what could happen.

While, the technology did exist and the Army Corp of Engineers (I used to work for a member of it) had numerous reports of why the levees were bad, yet they were still made because, at the time NOLA was a hot bed of money for the state of LA (and still is was until Sunday). Lots of commerce happened there...

It's a shame when money comes before the value of human life.


Jen

Arianna Frances

[Kris 0]

Quote

There isn't one answer, because it was a chain of events that started with g, hopped up to d, could have been stopped at f, but ultimately ended with h.

And no preparation at all to go along with that h. (sorry, that was bad, even for me)

Of course, I'm sure a certain person who "jumps sans chute" will be along shortly to tell us why God punished them.

Seriously though, there's more than enough that went wrong for people to play "woulda, shoulda, coulda" for years. I still haven't been able to even fathom how long the cleanup from this is going to take, or if it's even going to be possible.

I'm just glad my new in-laws made it out of New Orleans in time and are safe in Houston.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[tcnelson 1]

well, regardless of whos fault it is, it is now new atlantis and the people of old atlantis are saying, "shit, there goes the neighborhood..."

"Don't talk to me like that assface...I don't work for you yet." - Fletch
NBFT, Deseoso Rodriguez RB#1329

[davedlg 0]

To blame is a serious lack of preperation by the government at a local, state, and federal level. I don't think that the finger can be pointed at a single person, but the system of government that refused to react to the fact that this was going to happen. The infrastructure should have been in place to prevent New Orleans from flooding. It would have cost a lot and it would have taken funding and involvement at all levels of government. The fact that a few levee breeches flooded the entire city is unacceptable. It has been known for many years that this would happen if the city were hit with a hurricane. I can't believe the government just sat around and hoping a huurricane wouldn't hit without doing something about it (i.e. reinforcing existing levees, 'armoring' them against storm surge, and building more levees to compartmentalize the city).

A hurricane of this magnigude will do a tremendous amount of damage regardless of where it hits, however there are things that could have been done preemtively to prevent this disaster from reacing the magnitude that it has.

So my list of who's to blame:
US army corps of engineers (in charge of the levee system)
LA state government (for failing to address a known weakness)
NO government (also for failing to address a known weakness)

edited to add: those who didn't evacuate when told it was a virtual certainty their city would flood. I mean...come on... I wonder how many resources in the first hours after the hurricane that could have been working to prevent the flooding from occuring were otherwise busy rescuing those stupid enough to stay behind?

[wmw999 2,583]

One thing to consider when blaming the lack of preparation on the part of the government is how expensive it can be to be prepared for every contingency (including something that seems likely like a hurricane targeting NOLA).

It seems like a waste of tax dollars. Kind of like how people talk about wasting their insurance money, and saying that the companies are all a ripoff.

Until you need it, and then you find out that you economized too much.

Who's to blame? shit happens. If we focus on who's to blame we won't spend as much time on how we can prevent a similar problem if one comes up the Houston Ship Channel, or NYC, or something like that.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[wildblue 7]

Wow... people really are trying to blame politicians, the government, and religious figures for this... you have to be kidding... I don't even know where to start....

How was Pompeii a bad example? What about the other cities that have been lost that I mentioned? Have you seen Pompeii? They were actually pretty technically advanced (well, aside from the lead in the plumbing - they didn't understand that just yet)

Blame the people who built the city to begin with? You really supposed they said "Hey, how about right here, we start a city that hold a half a million people" After it got that large, you think someone said "Hmmm.. well, there's entirely too many people in this dangerous location. We should convince everyone to move" You want to blame the army engineers for not making something 100% nature proof while still being financially feasible?! You think you can do better, knock youself out. And don't give me any 'human life is priceless' BS. There comes a point where throwing more money at something just gets too expensive. We do the best we can with the resources we have and then 'ya takes your chances'

For the crazy guy standing outside my office with his bible screaming that this was god's punishment. What happened to "My God is a loving God"? What happened to "I will never again destroy every living creature as I have done" And it was Mardi Gras' fault, right? So why is Vegas still standing? Why is all the 'evil' cities all over the globe still standing?

.... well, this wasn't my intention, but I'm guessing this'll hit SC shortly...

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[goose491 0]

Quote

I think Pompeii is a poor comparison considering that the technology did not exist to fully understand what could happen.

Pompeii is actually a pretty good comparison today thougH.

As we do understand that without a doubt, it will errupt again some day.

We do understand that without a doubt, we can not predict it accurately enough to call an evacuation unless the "chance of erruption" is within a certain percentage, measured on a daily basis.

We do understand that without a doubt, the cities cannot be evacuated in time to prevent thousands of deaths when it happens.

The government offers $40,000.00 to anyone who is willing to just pick up and leave the area. Many residents chose to stay because it's so beatiful and hey, that's home! Everyone there understands the risks fully. Everyone there knows that there is an evacuation plan... but none of them know exactly what it means to them (i.e. which roads they are supposed to take and where.)

So living next to the Levy, which you may know to be of poor quality, does indeed compare to living at the base of a volcano when you KNOW it will errupt some day and you KNOW you won't be able to escape death when it does (if in your lifetime)

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!