Looters are distributing food to hungry at Superdome

[Cocoa]

http://www.kget.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=D4B8AFA3-3564-4FF8-B91D-74F18D488C69


Officials have been denouncing the looting rampant in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck. But some say looters are also heroes.

A woman at the city's convention center says she's barely seen the police. She says the thugs and the criminals are the ones who saved her from her flooded neighborhood, using a stolen speedboat and moving truck.

At the Superdome, another Katrina evacuee says the looters have been distributing food to the evacuees there. Otherwise, he says, they'd starve.

Some looters have been anxious to show they need what they're taking. A gray-haired man at a Rite-Aid pulled up his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and explained that he needs pads for incontinence. Another man showed a reporter toothpaste, tooth brushes and deodorant.

[bloom]

1. That is what MSNBC was showing - "looters" passing out beverages...

(not alcoholic - just - beverages)

[rodeodance]

2. good for them.

[rodeodance]

6. bill o'lielly should have this put up his nose!

[Usrename]

60. after wrapping it around a bowling ball -

Bill O'Reilly is a racist.

[Kagemusha]

3. One word...

Mogadishu.

[Kralizec]

4. They shouldn't even be called looters anymore...

..."survivors" is now a more proper word to describe the people in New Orleans.

[Cocoa]

5. or "aid workers"

[rodeodance]

10. yes

[osaMABUSh]

55. you want fucking reality TV? you want Survivor?

fuck that shit. these people in NO are goddamn heroes for busting into Walgreen's and taking water and food to survive.

I never,ever want to hear again about fucking TV shows called Survivor or Fear Factor.

We all trying to survive now.

[Bouncy Ball]

7. I saw that too.

"Looters" passing out candy bars to the elderly sitting in the heat. Urging them to eat something.

Yeah, real hardcore thugs, those people. :eyes: :sarcasm:

[meisje]

8. Now that they are on camera, sure

I was just saving it for them

[Cocoa]

15. read the story

it's very short, I posted the whole thing. It's not posing, it's not the aid workers calling attention to what they're doing, it's eyewitnesses reporting what they saw, and telling us who were the ones that saved their lives.

[Guaranteed]

9. THIS is how it's done.

NICE FUCKING JOB!!!

It's about time somebody started taking these boats that have washed up to make use of them.

[kittenpants]

11. a 14 year old boy "looted" a bus to rescue people...

which he succeeded in doing and authorities are still planning to charge him

[Guaranteed]

13. That kid is a hero. nt

[BayCityProgressive]

17. Please

tell me that isnt true or i will really flip my mother fucking lid.

[kittenpants]

23. it was reported on the local Tampa news

and the had audio of the kid saying, "I don't care. I had to take care of my people."

Makes me want to cry with pride in him & frustration with everything else.

[havocmom]

45. Probably true. MSNBC reporter SAW police arrest and haul away a father

who booted a car to get his wife, 3 kids and the neighbors to safety, food and water. The police hauled him off and no one has reported seeing the rest of the families who just walked off.

STUFF is being protected while PEOPLE are left to die.

[fishwax]

21. do you have a link for that story?

i don't doubt it at all, i'd just like to have it to send to others ...

[LeftyMom]

40. No jury in america would convict him

but he deserves a medal.

[SaveAmerica]

44. A couple was shown on NBC news getting arrested for stealing a

car to get out of the bowl o'death. Let any freeper friends know about that when they ask 'why don't they just leave?'

[1932]

68. I hope all the property owners ask police to drop charges.

[Pobeka]

48. I saw it too on our local news. The kid deserves a medal.

While DHS/FEMA sit around, fretting and worrying about looters, a teenage boy saves about 60 people.

They should put him in charge, I'll bet he'd get everyone out to shelter in under 24 hours.

[darkism]

12. These "looters" are doing a better job than FEMA

I knew that the people of New Orleans weren't nearly as criminal as the media were making them out to be.

[Cocoa]

18. maybe that's why they want to shoot them

the looters are muscling in on their turf.

[puddycat]

14. are they also passing out those tvs and dvds and guns they stole?

Its very depressing how the criminals are being made out to be good guys. They are gang members, ex-cons, felons, thugs, rapists.

The good poor people left in NO are cowering in their attics etc. afraid of both the water and the criminals.

[darkism]

20. There are "looters" and there are looters.

This article is talking about the good "looters."

[Guaranteed]

22. As long as they're helping others and working for the greater good,

I don't care about them stealing any TV's.

This is a great story.

[Pallas180]

26. oh yeah,. all those old ladies sitting in the sun at convention center

are felons and criminals

Get real. use a brain.

this is fucking genocide of the undesirables.

the poor , the black, the old

[txindy]

No, they're keeping those in their luxurious, dry penthouses

:eyes:

Not everyone is evil, just as not everyone is good. People are helping others. Hotels are telling guests that are trapped to loot stores for food. Don't believe me? How about believing CNN, then? http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.trapped.tourists.ap/index.html

[K-W]

32. So when reality disagrees with you, you deny reality.

Its not like the federal government isnt full of criminals too.

Nobody is making criminals out to be good guys, we are recognizing the complexity of what is going on in New Orleans while you cling to a stereotyped generalization.

[Junkdrawer]

36. What K-W said n/t

[osaMABUSh]

59. Steal a little they throw you in jail, still a lot they make you king

or president

[teknomanzer]

65. The situation on the looting is clearly not black and white...

Some are obviously looting out of the need to just survive in a desperate and hellish situation... at the same time others are simply oportunists taking things they obviously can't justify taking... I for one will not fall into the right/wrong - black/white - with us/against us childlike mentality of our dumbass president. There are grey areas! And now there are these shoot to kill orders! Why? To keep a few dumbasses from taking shit they won't be able to use to sustain thier own lives anyway. Stealing food - justified! Stealing plasma screen tv's - just plain stupid - you cant eat a tv - how are you going to transport it out of the disaster area!

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Pepper32]

42. I was just going to say that, thanks! (nt)

[Solon]

51. Thanks for the support, someone didn't like it!!!!

I guess some generalizations are perfectly acceptable in this world.

[doublethink]

61. Did the poster use the F word?

anyway that was my reaction too, it was deleated before I did the same thing. Peace. :)

[Name removed]

71. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bouncy Ball]

34. There are gang members, ex-felons, thugs and rapists in

EVERY major city in the US. So what? Did you think a disaster would happen and suddenly they'd all be Mr. and Miss Manners or something? Situations like this just exacerbate any pre-existing emotional or mental imbalance in people.

Also, why the fuck do you care about fucking TVs and DVDs? PEOPLE ARE DYING. THE PLACE IS UNDER WATER.

[Guaranteed]

38. And many of them are even helping people.

I saw a group of tourists who were rescued by a black man, who would typically be labeled a "gangbanger" type if judged by his appearances, and the man's girlfriend. He brought the tourists- 8 of them, all white- to a city inland.

The spokesman tourist said that the man saved their lives.

[Bouncy Ball]

56. Yep, and I saw what most people would consider a VERY scary

looking guy who had 18 kids with him, none of them his own. He rowed a boat with himself and all those little kids in it to relative safety. Their mothers gave the kids to him because they knew he could get them to safety.

And he's staying with them still, looking for any signs of their mothers.

He had pants hanging so low on his butt, half of the top of his butt was showing, he had a yellow do-rag on his head, no shirt, tattoos, very very rough looking.

But a heart of gold. You absolutely cannot judge a book by its cover. He had even secured food, somehow, for those kids. EIGHTEEN.

[wellstone_democrat]

72. on every thread with that one its: TVs! TVs!

what exactly is the fixation with CDs and TVs? Who the fuck cares at this point. I'm beginning to think maybe its reparations...let them take it all


BTW, if there is a legal fund for that kid, I'll kick in.

[seabeyond]

41. why is it all or nothing. i havent been on these stupid ass looting

threads. i think it is pretty obvious there are bad people in there. there are also a lot of people in need of clothes, neccissities food and water. there is no way one can call these people criminal. i started really watchhing the looting last couple days cause of all the big deal and all the post. by far, hands down, the majority of pictures i saw were of shoes, shoes, shoes and clothes. are you and bush really saying these people should do without food water clothes and shoes because there is not a cashier to take their money?

it isnt all or nothing. yes there are bad guys, shootin and rapin and stealin

there are people totally fucked up simply cause they have had four days of this crap and people handle stress differently.

this looting debate.....what a waste.

what a waste to hear so little from bush, but i am sure to see him act all tough and say, and any looting will not be allowed. then bush, get your ass in there and stop it

[Pepper32]

47. It's so easy to sit in a comfy dry chair and judge isn't it?

[Imagevision]

52. pudycat> some looters are passing out food to the people Bush isn't

we need someone to help theses victims out!

[Biased Liberal Media]

67. Do you tend to generalize everyone who commits a crime in a time of need?

How is it depressing when someone is stealing to provide for people who can't survive??

What is depressing is seeing the babies who are dehydrated and the elderly people dying on sidewalks. THAT is fucking depressing.

[kster]

69. They steal Dvd, guns and TVs

for trading later, for food and water. Come on you know that.

[KittyWampus]

16. Maybe we should scrap the word "looters". It's meaning is vague.

[bullwinkle428]

30. I'm still willing to use the word to describe the bastards charging

$6.00 for a gallon of gas! :mad:

[1932]

58. I can think of a few other things I'd like to scrap.

[bpilgrim]

19. and they'll STILL be called 'LOOTERS' by the M$MWs

and worse after we slaughter them :cry:

peace

[Oeditpus Rex]

24. Reminds me of an old Andy Capp strip

Flo discovers Andy's taken money from her purse and rips into him:

"That's stealin', y'know! STEALIN'!"

Andy: "I prefer to call it 'redistribution.'"

[daleo]

25. Robin Hood was called a looter too

I suppose there are all kinds of things happening, but I am inclined to think the vast majority is not looting for greed, but "commandeering" out of necessity. Even if a poor person gets out of New Orleans, they are facing a very uncertain future - no job, no money and at the mercy of American governments that are not noted for assisting the poor for very long. So, to some extent, even stealing jewelry, etc isn't necessarily a sign of greed or criminality. Just a reasoned response to dire circumstances.

[LittleClarkie]

27. You beat me to it. ROBIN HOOD, INDEED

Good for them.

[Lifelong Protester]

28. sounds to me like

that idea of privatizing FEMA has worked...

[cthrumatrix]

29. "zero tolerance"....shoot to kill...... ask bill o'rielly

[Pepper32]

31. There are no words. Just this for the stupid media....

:dunce: :think: :P

[cascadiance]

35. Doesn't this remind anyone else of Deniro in Brazil?...

The terrorist plumber repair man? It's funny how so many real spoofs in movies that were supposed to be extreme satire (this example) and Verhoeven's attempt at satirical humor of a police state in Starship Troopers are becoming scarily like the truth (and probably moreso than the filmmakers had ever intendended them to be in their lifetimes).

[osaMABUSh]

62. refresh my memory - what deniro do in Brazil?

'Brazil' reminds me of Iraq: occupied by foreigners with bombs going of all around as if it is a natural occurrence.

[Mythsaje]

64. Starship Troopers was one of Heinlein's works,

and he was a man who considered government, at best, a necessary evil.

[Eloriel]

37. OMG. I hope we don't have another catastrophe on its way ....

I heard a chilling message on NOLA Police radio tonight
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4568184
Link: http://205.252.89.181:8000/live


My Phone Call with my FEMA Friend. Some info I did not know. :(
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2052957&mesg_id=2052957
Link: http://www.bushsamerica.com/index.php/2005/09/01/my_phone_call_with_my_fema_friend

[Wizard777]

39. That's what I thought! They aren't waiting for help.

They are saving themselves! Go team America! Show these Dumbass New World Order Builderbergers how to save lives.
Sorry King George they aren'y going to just sit there and ever so politely die waiting for you to finish Halliburton's and get around to being bothered by theirs.
This is canabalization of supplies just like our troops are being forced to do in Iraq. What ever they don't the troops and survivors leaves that much more for the Contactors.

[Used and Abused]

43. shoulda put looters in quotes

Its subjective.

[Witchy_Dem]

46. Exactly.

[Wizard777]

49. It's called the canabalization of existing supplies when our troops

in Iraq do it. They don't get help either.

[Pirate Smile]

50. Mass E-mail the media with this story.

[progressivebydesign]

53. This is kind of a Robin Hood type of looting apparently.

It's called helping people. This is not an excuse for everyone here at DU to suddenly laud all the looters as heroes. As another poster wrote, 'there are looters, then there are looters'.

[lonestarnot]

54. Woooo damn hooo! Loot on Mo Fos

[all.of.me]

57. "looters" = humanitarians

i think it is wonderful.

[Beam Me Up]

63. SOMEONE TELL MIKE MALLOY TO REPORT ON THIS!

[NiteOwll]

66. The difference

"Looting" is what you do when you're a rowdy, drunk college kid and your team wins the big game.

"Surviving" is what you do when your baby needs water or your grandma needs medicine -- and your government has abandoned you!

[KamaAina]

70. "Looters": distributing food to the hungry. FEMA: head still up its ass.

Which side are you on, man? Which side are you ON?

[krkaufman]

73. Reminds me of the young mother (w/ baby in her arms) tonight...

... on CNN, describing how her husband had effected their escape from the city only by stealing a truck, and after they had waded through waste-deep water.

She ended saying, "I wasn't ready to die. I'm not ready to die."