Hello strangers...

[Discord]

Hello everyone and sorry that I haven't been around in quite a while. Theres been an awful lot going on in my life in the last few months and really just haven't had the energy to post here as much as I would really like to. I have popped in to read from time to time but haven't really posted anything because of the randomness of my ability to follow up on any postings. I see that not a whole lot has changed here as far as GD goes. Unfortunately, the mass chain deleting of many of my posts by one particular Admin really took the steam out of my wanting to post here and continue to be involved at DU. I'm sure a couple of you might remember that string of events, but that was essentially about the same time I stopped posting here regularly. Alas, I post here today, to ask any of you who are able to, to donate to any Katrina relief charity if possible. To date, I have two friends from New Orleans that died and several others that are unaccounted for and unreachable. I can only hope that they are safe and being cared for, but with the horrendous delay in supplying N.O. with aid, I worry that others who may have survived the hurricane and flooding may very well still be at risk. Sadly, most of my friends who lived there we're too poor to evacuate and simply had no place to go and no means to get anywhere and attempted to ride out the storm. I know that money is tight for many of us, but whatever help anyone can offer is greatly needed. Even donating but a few bottles of water or some clothing that you might have otherwise threw away or given to Salvation Army or some such orginization can bring some help to the hundreds of thousands of people who now have nothing. My thanks to all of you who have already donated and hope that those who are still at risk and those who have lost everything can somehow find a way to rebuild thier lives and livelyhood.

[salvorhardin]

1. I'm sorry for your loss

Natural disasters are always hardest on the poorest members of society. I hope the rest of your friends stay safe and are able to rebuild their lives quickly.

IanDB1 posted information on the Secular Humanist Aid & Relief Effort which I know a number of us contributed to. The proceeds go to AmeriCares.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=263x10084
http://www.americares.org/about

[Discord]

8. Thanks for your caring

and thank you for the link.

[Phentex]

2. on another note....

and I whisper this....the dicussions have been a little more free lately. Meaning they aren't locking everything in sight. There have been actual discussion here in this forum that have been left alone that would have been zapped not long ago. Maybe they think we're grown-ups after all?

:hi:

[Discord]

9. I sincerely hope so.

I would like to feel more free to post here without feeling like I'm being censored and open some real discussions. I hope that trend continues.

[beam me up scottie]

3. Oh, Discord, I am so sorry.

Please accept my condolences, I can't even imagine the pain and anger you must be feeling right now.

I bounced a check this week, so I'm a little (okay, a LOT) short on cash, but I am getting clothes and canned goods together for drop off this week.

I miss you, my friend.

Please take care of yourself and let us know how you are doing.

You're part of our family too, you know.

:hug:

[Discord]

10. Thank you very much...

and yes, I am quite angry at the moment. I haven't been able to watch the news for a few days because it was just too much to deal with. Its very hard to watch the images on tv and seeing places that you have been in such chaos and ruin. Every day that they failed to rescue people or even to simply supply them with the basic necessities would just get me more and more angry about how this administration has been handling the relief efforts. I'm sure all the rich white folks were promptly rescued from the disaster areas.

I missed all of you too and especially you. Its been a very trying time as of late and am finally getting things turned around. I'm sorry that things are tough on you right now as well. I hope that you can get things turned around in time as well. Your a smart and caring woman and am sure you'll do whatever it takes to right the ship.

:hug:

[beam me up scottie]

15. I hope you are doing well in Vermont.

I can't wait to go home.

The bigotry here in the wake of this disaster has intensified.
You have no idea...

I don't know if I can go back to work in the morning, or be civil to my co-workers if I do.

I need this job, so I don't have a choice, but I hate these bigoted fucking assholes.
Sorry for the language, but it's not strong enough as far as I'm concerned.
I never thought any of them were really freeper material until last week.
There's no doubt in my mind, they could be regular contributors.
:mad:

[Discord]

17. Things are going well here for me.

Its a whole new world compared to living in Boston. I'm sorry to hear that things there have been causing you distress. I know what it's like though, having lived down south, how bad the bigotry can be. I hope that you can get things straightened out and find your way back home sometime soon. Vermont is waiting for your return with open arms. :)

My mother and I are going to be applying for dual citizenship with Canada in the near future. With the death of Reinquist, I fear our civil liberties will be stripped before long, and since we're only a couple hours drive from the border, we can get the hell out of dodge when the shit hits the fan. I imagine with the new makeup of the SCotUS, Roe vs. Wade will be overturned before too long, and I can only imagine how bad things will get in the next 2-3 years. I fear the Patriot Act, the Bankruptcy Bill, the repeal of the "Death Tax", and the overturning of Roe v Wade will only be the tip of the iceburg for these sadistic, elitist fucks....

So, I'm keeping a bag packed just in case.

[beam me up scottie]

19. There were grumblings about

Vermont seceding if things get much worse.
Any other state and I wouldn't believe it.
I definitely want to be up there when the revolution starts.

[Discord]

20. Definately the place to be nowadays.

I love that Vermont is regularly telling the Administration to shove their Dark Ages policies up thier pieholes.

[beam me up scottie]

22. And people think Dean is an anomaly.

He's just your typical Vermont politician.

[trotsky]

4. Welcome back, but I'm so sorry for your loss.

I made a donation to the Red Cross; now I'm trying to figure out what the best way in my area is to donate a bunch of kids' clothes we certainly don't need anymore. They would have gone to a local charity but it's clear there are many more families in need down there.

I hope you hear from the rest of your friends soon. This tragedy has affected so many lives.

[Discord]

11. Thank you very much Trot...

I know most of us can only help in what little ways we can. I myself have not much to offer but sent off a bag of clothes and some water and canned foods. Seperately, its not much, but together, it can amount to quite a bit.

I doubt I will hear from many of the friends I have no contact with. Over the years, many of us had moved or lost contact with each other. I can only hope that they were all able to escape the disaster.

[Arianrhod]

5. How terrible. I'm very sorry.

I made a donation to the Red Cross last Friday.

[Discord]

12. Many thanks for your sympathies...

and for your contribution. Every bit helps. :)

[Gelliebeans]

6. Discord

I am sorry about your loss. :cry:

I have donated what I could this week and I will again next week. If there is anything I can do specifically aside from donations please don't hesitate to ask. Just send me a PM.

Please post any updates for us as some of us don't venture to GD as much I have been in LBN constantly and popping in and out of here.

I spent Tues-Thurs this week helping out another DU'er finding a family member and it was just terrible trying to get information. :banghead:
I can't imagine the frustration and sadness for families trying to find loved ones in this disaster. The daunting task of rebuilding seems insurmountable right now I am sure.

Take Care of yourself and pop in here when you have a moment or two, we miss your posts :hug:

[Discord]

13. I appreciate your caring Gellie...

All of your support means alot to me. Luckily, my mom was able to contact both of her closest friends from there and they were both safe. She flew down to Jackson, MS to meet one of them and drive with her back to Buffalo, NY where her family is. The other is staying down there with some friends in Baton Rouge until they allow people to return to the city and see if thier houses are still intact.

The one thing I have been looking for is any sort of public listing of survivors and casualties. If you or anyone else knows of anything like that, I would be very appreciative of any additional info.

I'll be trying to post here again more in the near future now that I'm finally beginning to settle in to my new State a bit.

Again, thank you very much for your caring and suppot. Means alot to me. :hug:

[NMMNG]

7. I am sorry for your losses, Discord

But it is good to have you back.

I've made two donations to Katrina relief. I only hope they can do some good.

[Discord]

14. Thank you very much.

Your help and support is very much appreciated.

Love the big armed hug btw. hehe.

[onager]

16. So sorry to hear about your friends

I'm late, as usual. Somehow missed this thread.

Our company has collected individual donations. And I guess we can be a bit grateful, for once, for large corporations. The company made a quick $1 million corporate donation last week, when the amount of devastation was becoming obvious.

It acted a lot quicker than $hrub...

[Discord]

18. No worries onager...

We'll just call it fashionably late.

I'm happy to hear that at least your corporation had some humanity left in them. Unlike present Administration officials.

I think, to me, that Louisiana is generally a Red state, with the exception of New Orleans. New Orleans has really been the only Democratic center in an otherwise Repug area. So, I think that it was done intentionally by this Administration to act slowly in sending aid. As they are letting primarrily Democratic voters die in the aftermath. I could just hear Rove and Co. sitting in the White House going...."No... lets just wait a few more hours... just another couple hours...and we can kiss another 100 Dem voters goodbye."

[salvorhardin]

21. I don't think so Discord

Massive incompetence across many governmental levels is enough to explain the slow response in the wake of the failure of the levees. Greed, arrogance and shortsightedness address the lack of preparedness and diversion of resources prior to Katrina. Just as with 9-11 I think we require extraordinary proof before we begin to accuse even the Bush administration of this level of complicity.

[Discord]

23. Well, sorry to say...

But the circumstansial evidence is pretty compelling. Mississippi, which wasn't hit nearly as badly as New Orleans was recieving aid in less than 24 hours. Hotel guests, visitors, and other nice white folks were being bussed out of New Orleans within 2 days...

So... why exactly should I think that aid being brought to poor black neighborhoods in the Democratic center of New Orleans after FIVE days without food and water wasn't at least somewhat intentionally... and WHY exactly should I cut this Administration ANY slack whatsoever...

Isn't that they can have thousands of Americans dieing in Iraq on a war based on lies, in a premeditated effort to find cause to go to war after it was already privately decided that they intended to reguardless of what real evidence was offered enough?
Isn't that theres a significant amount of evidence that they knew the 9/11 attacks were being planned well in advance of the attacks, and they decide to run air drills away from that area the same day of the attacks that killed thousands of Americans enough?
Isn't that theres compelling evidence that they not only stole ONE but TWO Presidential elections from the people of the United States and thier rightful ability to choose thier president in a fair and untainted manner enough???

I mean seriously... thats just the tip of the iceberg... and you want me to give THEM slack???


I dont think so.

[salvorhardin]

24. I'm not cutting anybody slack

This is what I wrote at my site:

My own take is that I sincerely doubt any conspiracy theories. However, if such conspiracies were true then would we not consider the Bush administration as enemies of the state? Now consider that the sheer incompetence, idiocy and political divisiveness of the neocons alone adequately explain the policies of this adminsitration (I believe they do). Should not their effect, which is indistinguishable from a high level conspiracy to do harm to the U.S., cause us to consider the Bush adminsitration as enemies of the state?
http://www.neuralgourmet.com/node/163

As of right now though there's just not evidence to suggest anything other than gross incompetence. But when it comes to conspiracy theories -- including 9/11, whether it be LIHOP or MIHOP -- I find it hard to believe. Too many people would need to be involved. That many people just don't keep secrets. Failures across many different levels of government also suggests that the delayed response was not a directed conspiracy.

However, as my blog entry that I excerpted above indicates, I do hold the Bush administration culpable. From hiring a FEMA director who was both unqualified and incompetent to redirecting money from the Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen the levees to Bush's own slipshod management (e.g. many vacations) I find the Bush administration to be directly responsible for the tragedy in New Orleans. And yes, class issues (but not race) played a large part in it.

But conspiracy to allow the deaths of thousands of people? No. There's no evidence.

[Discord]

25. While to some extent...

...I would agree theres no hard evidence to suggest that any actual communications that spell it out, to memos that could be surfaced or the like exists at this time or manbe never... but whether by gross incompetance or malicious intent, the effect is essentially the same. So, in that reguard I can agree with that. BUT... whether by incompetance OR by intent... theres has been no accountability whatsoever. No matter what the truth is... or where the truth lies, (which I would guess is actually somewhere between the two) someones gotta pay, and the responsability should land squarely on the shoulders of the highest of those in command, no matter who messed up and what the real cause for many idioticly insane blunders and high crimes that the Administration has made. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died under the present leadership, with no end in sight, and that is an undenyable fact. I don't know anyone else who holds high level management jobs that would still be employed with thier kinds of track records. But hell... what do I know...

[salvorhardin]

26. I agree with you absolutely on Bush and Cheney's (ir)responsibility

I never thought I would see an administration surpass the criminality of the Reagan administration -- but here we are.

You'll have to excuse me if I sounded like I was attacking you. That wasn't my intention. I am more than pissed at the amount of hysteria, fear mongering and conspiracy spinning I've seen around here of late. I just don't think it does us any good to go off half-cocked on unsubstantiated information or suspicions. Again, this is a general rant and not directed at you.

[Discord]

27. I understand. No offense taken.

As much as I do believe there was some degree of intent with all of thier dispicable activities during *'s presidency, theres enough provable facts that should have sunk his ship long ago. I agree that outside of our sounding-board sites... we should focus more on the concrete than the improvable possabilities.

But on DU... I say let the theories fly!!! :P lol