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New Orleans' Black & Brit Trash ...
You're on your own, Britain's victims toldNice, eh ?
Mark Townsend
Sunday September 4, 2005 The Observer
British families trapped in New Orleans last night claimed that US authorities had refused to evacuate them as Hurricane Katrina approached the city.
Allies, eh?
On a day that Britain has flown over more than half a million 'canned rations' to help. Eh?
Special relationship, eh?
Friends, eh?
On a day that young Brit soldiers are still fighting, suffering, being maimed and dying in the US inspired, illegal Iraq oil-turf war and occupation. Eh?
Shoulder to shoulder, eh?
Coalition, eh?
Still, one shouldn't be so be surprised I suppose. After all, many of America's own citizens were literally left like trash -- to rot, starve and/or die of thirst -- in the world's largest open sewer, which was once a city called NewOrleans.Although assistance was offered to US residents, British nationals were told they would have to fend for themselves.
According to those who remain stranded in the stricken city, police had visited hotels and guest houses on the eve of the hurricane offering to evacuate Americans, but not Britons.
The order meant UK holidaymakers without cars were left helpless in the face of the hurricane. Some have been trapped in hotels and guest houses since the hurricane struck at 7am local time last Monday.What? No car? Duh!
Poor - black - bloody Brit-twit - or any other foreigner -- what's the difference? Eh?
To coin a phrase - " They didn't fucking vote for us."
So let them all sink or swim in the same shit, eh?
One family from Liverpool, trapped in a flooded section of the city, told relatives yesterday of their bewilderment when they realised US citizens would be offered preferential treatment.How many times have we heard that bombastic little bastard Bush ask: "Why do they hate us?"
Gerrard Scott, 35, spoke to his brother Peter from the Ramada Hotel in New Orleans where he has been stranded without assistance with wife, Sandra, 38, and seven-year-old son Ronan for the past six days. 'Those that didn't fit their criteria were told to help themselves.
The police said they were evacuating Americans, and took away the majority.
Well, try this for size shrub - I'm a Brit and I was born, bred and brought up in Liverpool. And there are several hundred thousand more like me. So, go on smart arse, ask us again. Eh?
'The British who were left all thought the police would come back, but nobody has. They have just been left,' said Peter Scott last night.
Other Britons are, apparently, stranded in the hotel. However, contact with the outside world remains haphazard.
There is a payphone in the hotel lobby, but US operators have been refusing to accept collect calls from stranded Britons.
'Some of them are just hanging up even after they have explained they are trapped in New Orleans. It's like - what emergency?' said Scott.
But you know what makes me mad, the most? Eh?
Neither Bush nor Cheney, nor any other big time movers & shakers in their crooked cabal were in New Orleans in police uniforms. Nor where any of them working as phone operators.
Those cops and phone operators were, what are so fondly referred to as 'regular' Americans.
Just following orders, eh?
One nation under God? Seems more like one nation under sedation, these days
Right now I'm neither cool nor calm enough to comment further.
I'll simply leave a link.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1562517,00.html
posted by Richard at Sunday, September 04, 2005
32 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
( snip )
Lord Triesman said the Foreign Office had received phone calls from people who were worried about relatives they believe are in area struck by the hurricane.
Lord Triesman said the government was trying to help affected Britons
( snip)
He said Foreign Office staff were not being allowed into the affected areas.
"We required the agreement of the Louisiana governor to get into the city, and we haven't been given that agreement," he said. ( snip )
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4214122.stm
Richard, I am so ashamed and so sorry.
I am too. This is NOT the America I thought I lived in. It's not representative of most of the people I know either. I just got back from visiting family in Liver pool, I hope that your fellow Brits are OK. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, the only thing I can think of is total incompetence. As mucg as I hate to think that this is what it takes, it probably is the only thing that could have woken average Americans up to what this criminally incompetent administration is worth. I'm sorry again. This is NOT the actions of the Americans I know.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
And here I thought FEMA and the National Guard were tasked with evacuating "people," not "Americans." Silly me.
This is what happens when you roll emergency management and immigration all up into Homeland Security. And then populate the Department with fuckwits.
Richard,
My God. I can't believe this.
I am sickened by this. Didn't they let these people at least call the British Embassy?
I don't think I can take much more of this.
BushCo is hiding more than incompetence. They deliberately kept people out who could help. Why?
My heartfelt apologies to your countrymen. I certainly wasn't raised to mistreat GUESTS.
Please do not let go of this story. More will follow, as you know.
I cannot begin to express my astonishment at the treatment of your countrymen here Richard nor my anger at my own government for treating them like that! These are crimes against humanity! Both against your folks and our poor who were left to die!
GRRRRRRRRR!
This atrocity committed against British citizens is part and parcel of this American government's xenophobic attitude to anyone who is Not-Them.
Remember the government's official argument at the Meher Arar hearing a month ago in the U.S.? That NON-AMERICANS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHTS WHATSOEVER ON AMERICAN SOIL?
That was the day I decided never, ever to visit that country again, even though the border is just a few minutes' drive from Toronto.
This IS America as it exists now -- it hates EVERYBODY.
Until its citizens rise up and take back their country and root out these monstrosities masquerading as human beings, I think the rest of the world should cut all ties to them and let them stew in their own juices of hatred.
I am so full of rage I can hardly think.
Richard,
Words fail ... my gorge rises in disgust with the appalling inhumanity of far too many of my countrymen to each other, and to our guests.
The criminals running this country WILL fall, and WILL pay for their cruelty. And the Americans who supported them from the start WILL pay dearly for their error and selfishness.
The millstones of the gods grind slowly, but exceedingly fine -- and the horrific experience of ALL those who needlessly suffered at the criminals' hands will NOT be forgotten.
I join all the others here in profoundest rage and horror, and tremble at the terrible justice enroute -- justice as furious as the storm that engulfed New Orleans and swept away the last vestige of the criminals' pretensions to authority.
Please help us in the US throw off this lethal government.
You say: How many times have we heard that bombastic little bastard Bush ask: "Why do they hate us?"
I've never heard him say anything of the sort. The Bush/Rove cabal has a long standing political strategy to MAKE the world hate us. It shores up the redneck, xenophobic vote and gets them reelected, albeit by small numbers, but it works.
Bush's core constituency is proud of the international disdain for the U.S. It makes them feel powerful.
Canadians left to fend for themselves as well...
>>The Australians stranded at the Riverwalk Marketplace got lucky yesterday. After spending days calling journalists and their embassy in Washington, six of them piled into a television reporter's SUV and drove to the airport in Baton Rouge, 130 kilometres away. But there was no room in the vehicle for their new Canadian friends.
"The Canadians were tearful that they couldn't go. They were pleading for help," said Mike Amor, the correspondent for Seven News who rescued the Australians."
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=0098a5ee-a5bc-4929-a901-747f279914c8
131 Britons Missing in Katrina's Wake
BBC News: Watch the video
-- Breaking news from New Orleans
-- Satellite images of the floods
Foreign Office officials are attempting to trace more than 130 Britons unaccounted for in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as New Orleans prepares to retrieve thousands of bodies from the flood-ravaged city.
Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman said it is believed that many of British nationals were likely to be safe but confirmed urgent work was being carried out to find them.
British consular officials will enter the city for the first time after they were finally given permission by US authorities who had previously barred access on grounds of safety.
Officials in Houston said 131 people reported as missing in Louisiana and Mississippi were yet to be found and the minister said: "I just pray that no one has been killed, but in a disaster like this no one can be certain."
His admission came as US officials admitted it is "evident" that thousands are dead in the wreckage of the Gulf Coast.
The Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, has warned Americans the true horrors of the disaster will only be revealed as waters subside. "It is going to be about as ugly of a scene as I think you can imagine," he said.
http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/news/article.adp?id=20050905022909990010
This is worth repeating (from my last post )... it backs up what was said in that first BBC link you gave us.
British consular officials will enter the city for the first time after they were finally given permission by US authorities who had previously barred access on grounds of safety.
Everyone -- thank you all, so much.
I know full well that all Americans are not the same - thank God - and that there are millions more like your good selves. Many of them, I'm glad to say, have become 'virtual' friends over since that awful September in 2001 - way before I even knew what a 'blog' was.
I've been pretty busy over the last 24 hours and am only now catching up on things here.
Give me a little while and I'll respond individually where it seems appropriate -- but please, if I miss something - make allowances. (Trips to dentist AND optician today + taking care of young granddaughter for the day. )
rex, thanks for those links.
Elaine, will do re: spammers - and thanks for guest spot again.
Cameron, thanks for you link. I'd just learned about the Canadians and Australians - and apparently some other nationals too. I'm trying to keep abreast of it all - as I hope you are - we all need to work together - records must be made and kept for when these criminals are eventually brought to justice.
Cosmic, I won't let go, don't worry. The Liverpool family arrived at Manchester airport today. It's immediately obvious they are no run of the mill scouser-scallies - they are obviously cultured, extremely well educated with a 1st rate ability to articulate. I'm waiting for our local [+ maybe national] press to get to them for more.
Scott, thanks a lot, mate - from a scouser to a semi-scouser - you're truly appreciated.
Noel, what gives with your disappeared blog?
Harper, Michael, Julie, Phyl, Mark - and any other long-time, good cyber friends who I may have missed mentioning by name - I'm sure you know how much your genuine support is appreciated.
You represent and are representative of, the very best of the US people. I/we thank you for your friendship.
Richard I am so digusted, sorry, and sad. They have hurt so many people needlessly.
They (The police or military, it's still a bit sketchy) even shot some Army Corp Engineers yesterday making repairs.
This government truly has no respect for human life.
Reuters is still saying it's 131 missing Brits :(
Sandra and the lost US
Elaine you are a DOLL! I've been hit 6 times in the past couple of days myself. And if you want to eliminate ALL traces including the note that "This entry has been removed by the administrator." check the box to permanently delete the entry (below the check box to delete and cancel). That way you won't even be bothered with seeing the least trace! Good for trolls too!
I thank you Richard but I really must protest, for I am but an average American. MOST of my fellow countrymen really are like those of us you have mentioned... at least I like to think so. I hope your countrymen are found alive and well, though I fear that it may well not be the case at this late point. I hear the death toll will be in the tens of thousands, almost all from the poorest neighborhoods. I read about a diabetic, double amputee (legs) Vietnam vet who was abandon in a nursing home when the staff ran out on him. He was saved from drowning by neighbors who saw him sitting in his power wheel chair through an unboarded window and came to his rescue. He was finally able to make it to the stadium but after a couple of days the motor on his chair burned out and he was no longer able to move. Then during the evacuation a paramedic shouted at him to get out of the wheelchair or get left behind. At that point the vet, this man who gave his legs and very nearly his life in the service of his country broke down and with tears in his eyes told him that he didn't need to yell at him, that it would help... that he COULDN'T get out of his chair. Openly crying he said to the reporter that he was giving up, he'd just lost the last shred of his dignity.
I'm sure we are going to be hearing thousands of stories like that in the coming weeks. The unfortunate horrors your countrymen and other tourists experienced in New Orleans are (and please forgive me for saying this but it's true) only incidental. They are the collateral damage in Bush's unconscious class war. It's not that Bush or anyone else intentionally left the inner-city poor who had no cars to the vagaries of luck of living through the worst hurricane to hit the city in recorded history... no, they didn't even think of them at all until it was far too late to get any help to them! That's simply the way it is. The upper class NEVER considers the needs of the lower class. Not even when those considerations will save tens of thousands of lives.
Richard, I really doubt that it had ANYTHING at all with them being non-Americans. It was just the really unfortunate fact that they fit one of THE most basic ways to separate the low class from the middle class and up, do they have a car? It was purely a class thing. You think class division in Briton is an ugly secret? You don't have ANYTHING on us!
I'm curious as to what happened to the Spanish Member of Parliament and _her_family who were also abandoned in New Orleans Convention Centre (The centre FEMA said they had no idea there were 10,000 people there).
They were there until Sept.4th when they managed to make it to Houston.
I'm interested what she'll have to say when she gets back to Spain considering what she has said already.
>>Europe is learning first-hand the chaos Bush has created in New Orleans. Regardless of intense diplomatic efforts, Spain cannot facilitate the rescue of a Member of Parliament and her family from the Convention Center.<<<
http://loco4lorca.typepad.com/un_poeta_loco/2005/09/spanish_member_.html
cameron, I did hear about the Spanish woman MP, but I've not heard the latest on her.
** Richard, I really doubt that it had ANYTHING at all with them being non-Americans.**
Julie, the Brits, Canadians and Australians are categorically confirming that the police doing the evacuations at the hotel, told them quite clearly that all none-US people had to fend for themselves.
I sit corrected then!
Sandra, thank God the missing numbers have gone down a bit - but last I heard they were still in the 90s.
*reads through the 1/2 Kracked Kup, astounded, and follows the link* You know, it's moments like these that I hate living in America. Almost anywhere else sounds really good right about now.
-Juliedee's Evil Wicked Step Daughter, Ariana
Wtf? Something's wrong with ANYONE who thinks it's okay to leave someone in dangerous waters (literally) just because they're from another country. No matter who's the president, what country you're from, whatever may be in the way of people not wanting to save other people, we're ALL human so we should ALL help eachother.
Not because we hate the government, not because so-and-so is from britian or austrailia or the US or wherever, but because we're all human beings living on the same earth with the same damn species.
Makes me sick some people can't help other people based on their background.
anonymous,
I too used to believe that we're ALL human. Sadly, I'm becoming convinced that somewhere along the line our species has mutated in some way.
Ahhhhhhh! Glad you made it here Kidlette! Evil Wicked Step Daughter Ari, meet my good friend Richard. Richard, meet my Evil Wicked Step Daughter Ari. Evil Wicked Step Daughter Ari, meet The Group. Group, meet my Evil Wicked Step Daughter Ari. Now that we all know each other let me say that I could not agree more with my Evil Wicked Step Daughter Ari.
anonymous, the whole thing has left me with a permanent case of acid reflux. I simply cannot believe that anyone would just run out and leave fellow humans to fend for themselves like that!
'Allo, Ari! It's remiss of me not to have replied earlier. Somehow I missed your post. But better late than never - welcome to the old codger's blog. :^)
She's a good kid... bright and really sharp mind. She gets that from me ya know... :^)
iNBWe3 The best blog you have!
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