The looting stories are a lie, PLEASE don't fall for it

[Used and Abused]

Bush is embarassed. They need to do and say anything to distract us from what's going on. When this first happened, the destruction didn't seem that bad but there was a lot of chaos. At that time, some youngsters might have tried to take advantage of the situation thinking that New Orleans would get back to normal. By now, everyone is focused on surviving. You can't do anything with a TV or stereo at this point. SHOW one tape of someone hauling around electrical equipment --- odds are that footage was gathered right after the storm hit.

The media is giving us old news--they are showing the same old clips over and over again. If someone shot at a chopper, wouldn't it belikely that that person was trying to get the pilot's attention? A desperate call for help?

PLEASE NOTE: I'm not saying looting never occured, I'm saying, the chances that looting IS STILL TAKING PLACE are very slim. People now realize they may DIE---what's a TV gonna do?

[KyndCulture]

1. No. WRONG... MSNBC had footage from today.

you are wrong.

[havocmom]

5. And a reporter on the ground who went many places & said he saw none

But he did see a lot of people who had done what they were told, then left without supplies who had to go forage for food and water, which they brought back to the centers and shared.

[bpilgrim]

26. ------------- --------- -------- --------- --------- > MP3

WDSU: on scene downtown, NO - lastnight
http://news.globalfreepress.com/mp3/katrina/NO-8-31-05-2427-onscene_report-wdsu-katrina.mp3

there is crime, like any big city, but now it only serves as a DISTRACTION from the neoCONs crimes.

psst... pass the word :bounce:

peace

[Syncronaut Seven]

47. Oh lookie!!!!!

The desire for cheap plastic crap is now greater than the will to live, not that consumerism is a cult or something.

It's hard for me to frame this as a moral failing of the individual, Not when the populace has been brainwashed to this degree. Where does the desire to own shit fit in when you talk about the future of humanity.

It's just stuff, and wet stuff at that. So stupid looters get shot in the head by people just as brainwashed as them, and nobody really seriously questions why.

Nothing I "OWN" is worth dying for, it's all rented anyway, you can't take it with you.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Thank You

Bush and the M$M have purposely trying to forment violence.

[meisje]

3. I guess all the video evidence is fake too?

[KyndCulture]

4. Yeah like WDSU, WWL too... ?

give me a break.

[Tyranny_R_US]

10. Looting shouldnt be a concern when everyone is sitting on their asses

[slackmaster]

6. There was an interview with a looting victim on NPR just now

A woman whose family lost almost everything they owned in the flood.

The few things they had managed to salvage were stolen by looters, who also took their shed.

The lootings are very real and very horrible. The victims aren't all stores and wealthy people. Poor people are getting looted too.

[Used and Abused]

14. when were they looted? today or when the storm first hit?

That is the question. We are now 4 days into this thing.

[slackmaster]

17. It sounded like it happened today

There is no excuse for whoever took her belongings. She and her family are every bit as needy as anyone else. Their house is uninhabitable. Now they has no food.

I really don't see what difference the timing makes. The looting is real.

[Used and Abused]

the difference is

my theory is that the looting took place early on, but right now, people are just trying to be evacuated. I don't believe looting is *still* taking place.

[slackmaster]

29. In the OP you don't seem to think there is any looting at all

But there really is, and it is a major problem.

[Used and Abused]

31. no i said it most likely occured early on

but when people started to realize they might not survive, that type of looting ceased. the media just keeps repeating and old and irrelevant story.

[ClintonTyree]

38. No, sorry, you're wrong...........

it's still taking place but not as much as in the beginning. Looting IS going to happen in ANY natural disaster like this. Most only want food and water, but there is always an element that will take anything that isn't nailed down. They showed footage last night on MSNBC of New Orleans Cops walking down the aisles of a Wal-Mart "shopping".
Calm down, we're all getting a little whacked out over this. It's because we all feel so helpless and think much more should be done to help.

[insane_cratic_gal]

23. took their shed?

And like what? carried the shed through 5 ft of water for 6 miles? That doesn't make much sense.

Everyone in in NO, I think it's safe to say, has lost something.


Honestly I think the looting is becoming the main focus and it shouldn't. The story is the people still waiting for help on the ground! If help doesn't get to them, the "looting" is going to become ten fold

[slackmaster]

She said she saw it being towed down the street by a pickup truck

Deny it all you want, you cannot change the reality of the situation.

[insane_cratic_gal]

36. Not denying

What I am saying is perhaps the focus should be on trying to get food and water to these people before they becomes a pissed off mob.

Drop food in areas you can't get to!!

Hell we did it in Iraq.. dropped MRE's

[bertha katzenengel]

7. Yep. They faked the live video footage of LOOTING, just like they faked

the moon landings.

Oh -- and there was no looting in L.A. after the cops who beat Rodney King were acquitted.

[Used and Abused]

35. what does rodney king have to do with this?

Oh.. I forgot... it involves blacks. :eyes: Save the 'tude and read the whole post next time

[ClintonTyree]

40. You edited the post............

your OP wasn't as clear as the updated version. Don't go crawling down poeple's backs because you worded it poorly. Jeeesh.

[bluestateguy]

8. Even the police had to "loot" to get food and water for themselves

Scummy as I think it is for people to loot luxury items, I don't think it's happening much anymore now that the situation has deteriorated.

[SofaKingLiberal]

9. The deterioration of civil behavior is

a direct result of the lack of guardsmen on the ground.

[bullwinkle428]

18. Exactly...I'm old enough to have watched coverage of the

aftermath of many hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc., and I can always recall convoys of NG troops moving onto the scene mere hours after the storm has passed. To have not planned for this is completely unconscionable on the part of Bushco...

[slackmaster]

20. Lesson we should all learn from this

You cannot rely on the NG or anyone else to help you in the wake of a disaster.

[insane_cratic_gal]

32. You remember the old Hierarchy of Needs?

Maslow's hierarchy suggest if the lowest needs are not met then civilization deteriorates

[Bluebear]

11. Looting is real. The "FEMA can't go because of gunfire"....hmmm

Methinks it is a convenient story for the most part.

[KyndCulture]

12. And I spose the cops turning in their badges are fake too?

They are refusing to do anything from lack of help.

[aquart]

13. Yes, they were trying to get help.

They also threatened hospital workers at gunpoint demanding access to the roof so their families can be picked up first.

And one man went insane and shot his sister over some ice. See how charming you would be after days without food or water. I'm testy if I miss lunch.

Even the cop who was shot last night says these are good people who are scared.

They're behaving badly because they have no reason NOT to believe it's every man for himself. Would you see your family die of dehydration in front of you and do nothing?

[walldude]

15. There is no denying that there are looters

but many of them are looking for food and water. Most of the people are waiting paitently for help. Olberman did a great piece on this tonight. There were thousands waiting for buses at the Superdome. No pushing, shoving, fighting, just people waiting their turn.

[aquart]

19. At that other site, they caught something

Black people were "looting" but white people were "finding."

[theHandpuppet]

16. Um... there is actual footage of the looting, you know

I'm not passing judgment one way or another, but I'm not so far in denial that I'd say I haven't seen the looting on video -- some of it live, even.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. There were looters after the suburban tornados that I lived through

in 1965.

(Interestingly enough, the National Guard was patrolling the streets in the damaged areas the next day.)

I don't doubt that there were real looters, but I think a lot of the alleged looters were just looking for food, water, and dry clothes and shoes.

[BrklynLiberal]

22. And if there is enough looting the public" will DEMAND that the government

send in Federal troops and that martial law must be set up!

They should just shoot anyone who moves around the streets!!!

Bush is laughing hysterically as he watches his plans unfold perfectly. Well, not HIS plans, really. But the plans are working perfectly

[Libby2]

24. Just talked to someone from Baton Rouge

that got power back today.
She said the stories of the looting, gangs and crime happening in Baton Rouge are not true.

[Cleita]

25. I think the criminal activity is being sensationalized and not

enough being said about the true desperation of the situation. I notice the media is showing more the suffering than the hooliganism in the last two days. Maybe we will have redemption after all.

[brentspeak]

27. I don't know if ALL the looting stories are true, but some definitely are

MSNBC had a feature tonight about a group of people trying to survive in their top-floor apartment. They're terrified of being discovered by the groups of street-level maurauders.

[Synnical]

28. The alert button is your friend

My thoughts, anyway, on this post. And yes, I did hit it.

[Used and Abused]

33. try reading the whole post next time

:eyes:

[ClintonTyree]

43. You edited your original post...........

are we mind readers? Give me a break.

[Used and Abused]

45. only the end part nt

[Synnical]

46. Thanks

And an apology to the original poster, now that he/she has added an edit.

[bloom]

30. It sounds like the violence might be exaggerated

At least per Keith Olberman and his reporter.

They made it sound like things were quite orderly at the convention center - these were people doing what they were told to do - and aid was being denied on grounds of the supposed civil unrest - violence,etc. - which they said was nearly non-existent.

[DoYouEverWonder]

42. Of course, there is going to be some violence

there is violence every day in any major city even under normal circumstances. Add that to the desperation and the tension that these people are facing right now and there are going to be problems. But by focusing on the bad stuff the media is instilling fear and make matters much, much worse.

Instead everything to get these people food, water and shelter should be of the utmost importance and then a lot of the problems will resolve themselves.

[global1]

34. Bush Quote on Looting in NOLA.......

"Them Dammed Insurgents"

[Aunt Anti-bush]

37. Does it even matter, though?

Who gives a shit if people are breaking into the already destroyed stores and stealing water and food or even the damn TVs? They probably don't know what the heck to do. It's kind of obvious that the really bad looters (the ones who are stealing stuff other than necessities) are not in their right minds. What are they going to do with the stuff anyway? It's not like they're going to go back to their newly flooded apartments and plug in their new radio. They're not thinking straight.

The stores probably have insurance out the wazoo anyway. Forget the damn merchandise and start rescuing the victims!

[philarq]

39. April 11, 2003 Rumsfeld: Looting is Transition to Freedom

"While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression and people who have had members of their family killed by that regime, for them to be taking their feelings out on that regime," he said. "And I don't think there's anyone in any of those pictures ... (who wouldn't) accept it as part of the price of getting from a repressed regime to freedom."

[Miss Chybil]

41. Get a grip. Criminals are criminals in good times and bad.

Criminals get meaner and bolder during times of chaos. They must be stopped for the safety of the citizenry. Pretending they don't exist is not an effective response. Nobody cares about tennis shoes and t.v.s, but when they started holding people up at gunpoint, or putting hospitals under siege they must be stopped.

[SmokingJacket]

44. well, clearly there's some.

A big city has criminals, and NO more than its share. Plus, ordinary people just looking to survive will be driven to all kinds of things.

But I have no doubt the stories are being overblown to excuse Bush's lack of action.

But the National Guard ought to be able to handle it -- that's why they have big old weapons themselves, correct? If they're shot at, they should shoot back, and continue to rescue the vast majority of citizens who just want to LIVE.

[Moderator]

48. Locking...

This is flamebait.