Oh great. The "looting" story line emerges.

[Hello_Kitty]

I've seen it in several newspaper reports and Ed Schultz just said it on his show. OMG they're looting!! I'm sorry, but it's not looting when there's just been a disaster and it's food and water that you're taking and sharing it with others.

[HopeHoops]

1. "Officers, quick! They're looting the Food King!"

Katy at the end of "Animal House" when the cops are trying to arrest Boone.

[timeforpeace]

36. Let's get real and call it what it is: opportunistic shopping.

[Bluebear]

39. What on earth is there left to shop for? A blender crushed by cement?

[KG]

2. in a place as poor and now destroyed that, what would there be to loot?

[TornadoTN]

29. Food, water, basic necessities

Of course, that's not really looting but we all know the media and corporate America considers it looting. ESPECIALLY when black people do it.

[timeforpeace]

35. And how would they know the difference? You make a good point.

[YOY]

3. Yes there's already a gungeon post about armed looting gangs taking food from orphans.

I assume they think if everyone were armed there wouldn't be a problem...when in fact the poverty and corruption there is the problem.

[KG]

5. is there a problem that couldn't be made better just by adding more guns?

:P

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

7. If everybody were armed, the situation would be invariably worse.

As you said, the poverty and corruption is the problem.
Adding more guns into that evironment would be even more destabilizing.

Look at mexico... poverty, gangs, corruption AND firearms/drugs all over the place.

[YOY]

10. Tell it to the gungeon folks...

You don't need to convince me. I only noticed it was the gungeon after I posted there...

[spin]

19. Having lived through one hurricane and a large number of ...

tropical storms that were close to hurricane strength, I can say that it's comforting to have firearms available for self defense when the system breaks down catastrophically.

[Tejas]

18. I believe the people on the receiving end of those machetes

would disagree with you.

[YOY]

27. About the poverty?

n/t

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

4. I guess there has been "gangs" going around with machetes and such.

Even reports of regular gunfire.
I think the looting they are referring to is not just the food/supply stores.

[Hello_Kitty]

9. Didn't we hear similar stories about armed looting gangs in NOLA that turned out to be false?

The Boston Globe showed a picture of a man carrying a bag of rice and called him a looter.

[Hannah Bell]

23. yes, *lots* of stories out of NO were false. They pushed the "black people out of control!" story

hard, & I noticed them pushing it last night too.

[Better Believe It]

6. I don't think any stores are open to "buy" water, food and bandages. They've been destroyed!

What idiots!

[FSogol]

8. Have the white people there been able to find anything?

:shrug:

[Hello_Kitty]

12. Nope, just dark skinned "looters" thus far. eom

[timeforpeace]

37. Harry's pulling for the light skinned ones.

[tabatha]

11. Exactly!

[Fresh_Start]

13. omigod, they might steal stuff b4 corporations can do so

gotta be some prime real estate opened up by the quake....
I wonder which corporation will be the first to build a new luxury hotel there

[backscatter712]

14. If they were white, they'd be "finding" rather than "looting"... n/t

[CTyankee]

15. Celebrated as "entrepeneurs"? Right? nt

[blondeatlast]

16. Good lord, what is there to loot? And really, who cares?! nt

[Mudoria]

17. Not much doubt looting is going on...

the strong take from the weak in times like this.

[Odin2005]

20. It's only "looting" when black people do it.

It's called "Profit" when it's done by white people.

[PacerLJ35]

21. Looting and disasters have always gone hand-in-hand...

It happens. I'd call those looking for items to sustain life as "foraging", but those taking things obviously not required to sustain life and live are true looters. For example, the individuals during Katrina that were leaving stores with televisions, etc...that's looting. Breaking into a store to steal water, food, etc isn't looting.

[Hannah Bell]

22. I noticed something similar on some of the news shows last night. A female talking head was

pushing the "There's going to be violence" story *hard*.

There hadn't been any particular violence thus far, but she kept asking everyone in a breathless "concerned" voice - "We've heard reports of gunfire, and it's getting dark, do you think all those uncivilized black people are going to start killing each other?"

Well, she didn't say *exactly* that, but I swear to God it's what she conveyed.

[Hello_Kitty]

24. Wyclef Jean said that people were as calm as could be expected and working together

People tend to respond to major disasters that way.

[Hannah Bell]

25. i wasn't saying i believed it. i was saying that's the line some of the news shows were pushing.

i was the one screaming at the lying hairspray head in my living room.

[Hello_Kitty]

26. Oh I know. This is the same shit that happened with Katrina.

My coworkers were talking about the looters, and the rapes in the Superdome, and how "they're shooting at the planes!" They were willing to believe the most outlandish bullshit about Katrina victims. Yet white disaster victims always act like angels. Imagine that.

[CBR]

30. I noticed it as well. Just waiting breathlessly for chaos in the streets... nt

[ljm2002]

28. No kidding...

...it pisses me off too.

For heaven's sake, with tens, maybe hundreds of thousands dead, I should think we'd let people get what they can for their immediate survival without accusing them of looting.

It reminds me of Katrina, when black folk were "looting", but white folk were "finding supplies".

Geez.

[Control-Z]

31. Would you call this looting?

I can't say I would behave any differently under the same circumstances.



The caption just jumped out at me:

'A resident loots food from the Caribbean supermarket in downtown Port-au-Prince after a major earthquake hit the Haitian capital, January 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)'


Pic #30 at link:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/haiti_48_hours_later.html

[Hello_Kitty]

32. He's "looting" food.

Unbelievable.

[WildEyedLiberal]

38. If he were white, the caption would be "A resident carries a bag of food from ......."

So transparent :eyes:

[SoCalDem]

33. Looting happens.. in EVERY emergency situation..especially

in areas where people are poor-to-the-bone.

If you have small kids, and your house just got crushed, and you see a facility that has water & food, wouldn't YOU do the same?

When government cannot aid the people, they have to revert to doing what's necessary to survive

[Matariki]

34. I saw that too. It disgusted me.

I thought the media got the message after Katrina - but no - 'looting' sounds so much more dangerous and exciting or something.

I'd like to see how they would survive for days without drinking water in the tropics. No, scratch that, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[defendandprotect]

40. CNN big on a story last night about a collapsed prison . . . !!!

Oh -- prisoners running around loose -- !!!

The real criminals on the island of Haiti are the 1% elites who control and own everything!!