News on Iowa Floods

[pechuna]

I live in Iowa but this email came from a friend of mine living in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.

"Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods?

Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers) are?

Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines?

Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a "vanilla" Iowa, because that's the way God wants it?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of cannibalism?

Where are the people declaring that George Bush hates white, rural people?

How come in 2 weeks, you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?"

[Doodles]

Pechuna, I have a question you probably can answer. Was/is Clarinda Iowa affected by the flooding? I'm just curious...my dad and his ancestors (going back to early 19th century) were from there, and I probably still have a few unknown relatives around there.

[Babba]

You and the rest of wingnuttia are getting on my last nerve on this. Stop comparing apples and oranges. The Feds are doing a much better job with this than they did with NO. And we do need to upgrade our entire infrastructure, including levees all over the country. But these two situations are very different and you know it. If you don't, then you have reading comprehension problems and you should seek help.

[pechuna]

Pechuna, I have a question you probably can answer. Was/is Clarinda Iowa affected by the flooding? I'm just curious...my dad and his ancestors (going back to early 19th century) were from there, and I probably still have a few unknown relatives around there.

No, Clarinda is in Southwest Iowa. Des Moines is in Central Iowa and had some flooding. But, by far the worst flooding came in Eastern Iowa(Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and in the cities and towns along the mighty Mississippi.)

I've been all over Iowa but I have never been to Clarinda. I probably should have as Clarinda has a state mental hospital.

[Doodles]

Thanks Pechuna. As you can see, I know nothing about Iowa. Although, I do know Clarinda is the birthplace of Glenn Miller.

[pechuna]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

[Babba]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

Okay, we've explained to you the huge differences in the two situation. Now you explain to us why you think there is such a difference to the responses?

[Doodles]

Oh, goody....freeped.

Isn't this just another one of those generic emails circulated by the nutty rightwingers every time there's some type of natural disaster in fill-in-the-blank USA....declaring "See how much better WE are than those good-for-nothing freaks down in NO!!!"?

Seems I recall a near identical viral email going around during the San Diego fires...and another during the floods in little nowhere Lewis County WA last year.

[pechuna]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

Okay, we've explained to you the huge differences in the two situation. Now you explain to us why you think there is such a difference to the responses?

1. Mayors of Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Des Moines(all Democrats) were pro active. Public transportation was used to help evacuate areas(unlike Nagin)
2. Governor Chet Culver(Democrat) asked for Federal help earlier in the process than LA Gov. Blankhead. (There I just gave credit to FOUR Democrats)
3. Iowans helped their fellow Iowans. Rich and poor, young and old, black and white etc. Iowans didn't wait to have it done for them. Many that weren't threatened pitched in to help those less fortunate. What a novel concept!
4. Although the cleanup and reconstruction will continue for a long time, people are working together to make things better.

[Babba]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

Okay, we've explained to you the huge differences in the two situation. Now you explain to us why you think there is such a difference to the responses?

1. Mayors of Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Des Moines(all Democrats) were pro active. Public transportation was used to help evacuate areas(unlike Nagin)
2. Governor Chet Culver(Democrat) asked for Federal help earlier in the process than LA Gov. Blankhead. (There I just gave credit to FOUR Democrats)
3. Iowans helped their fellow Iowans. Rich and poor, young and old, black and white etc. Iowans didn't wait to have it done for them. Many that weren't threatened pitched in to help those less fortunate. What a novel concept!
4. Although the cleanup and reconstruction will continue for a long time, people are working together to make things better.

You obviously didn't read the article I posted about NO yesterday. I'm spitting angry at you right now.

[Babba]

Number one, if it was just the hurricane they had to deal with, they would have been alright. It was the levees that were not built or maintained properly. Remember the morning after? The first headlines said that NO dodged a bullet. It wasn't until after the storm had moved on that the levees gave way. Once the levees gave way there was no way for them to get out. Remember when some of the residents tried to cross that bridge to a dry city and the police wouldn't let them in? Second, NO is a city. A lot of people don't own cars. I wouldn't if I lived in a city. Even if there were buses available, who was going to drive them? The people who live there and normally drove the buses had to take care of their own families. The FEDs should have provided the buses. As for people helping each other out I heard and read a lot of stories about those people helping each other. Especially helping the disabled, elderly and children. The governor and Nagin did try to prepare but they needed FED help and tried to get it but Bush and Rove played politics with them. Read that article and open your mind to something other than the rightwing drivel you read. Expand your world.

[Babba]

Read some of this stuff, P. These are stories of people who were there.

The next morning they sent me out on a deuce-and-a-half to respond to emergency calls. The area hospitals were completely overflowing, and the city had set up a temporary clinic/hospital/triage center on the second floor of the airport. With the pumps running, the water levels had gone down a few inches overnight, but there was still three or four feet of water in the streets. Stores were already being looted -- every store I saw had its door kicked in or ripped off and a line of people going in and out of it. People were floating merchandise out of Wal-Mart on boats. The police tried to stop it but were completely overwhelmed. I know that President Bush has called for the police to stop the looting, but at the moment this is an impossible and ridiculous request. There are thousands and thousands of looters and only a handful of police. And there are thousands more people who still need to be rescued. If 25,000 military policemen had been sent in from the beginning, there would have been no looting. Another thing I'll say is that most or all of the civilians I saw were poor and humble folks. No one I saw (with the exception of the police officers) had decided to stay behind during the hurricane to "brave it out" -- they stayed because they had no means to leave.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature ... ndex1.html

Read something other than what your echo chamber says. I am as guilty of living in a echo chamber online as anyone, except you, Pechuna. Step outside your box. Just for a moment. And I am not trying to diminish what has happened to you guys out in the Midwest. It sucks. And I am very concerned about the whole situation. But stop demeaning other people that you think you know and understand. You do not. Obviously.

[Crania]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

Cool. I didn't know we could get freeped.

Hi to all the waco freak freepers. Thanks for banning me twice.

[ha'blo]

You've been FREEped:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033997/posts

Cool. I didn't know we could get freeped.

Hi to all the waco freak freepers. Thanks for banning me twice.

What a sellout. As one of our fearless leaders I expected something more along the lines of "Suck balls, Freepers!"

[pechuna]

All of Iowa's major rivers are flooding, which means most of Iowa is flooding. Farms, suburbs, urban areas, the capital, the capitol, even the University of Iowa itself.

And, naturally, the flyover newsies seem unable to make any observation that does not include an allusion to Hurricane Katrina. The attitude seems to be "You think this is bad? Hah! This is nothing like Katrina."

And indeed, the situation is nothing like Katrina. No one in Iowa is shooting at the rescue helicopters, for one thing. For another, the pictures indicate that people in Iowa, people of all ages, races, and socio-economic blah-blahs, are working on the levees and stacking sandbags. Working. Taking care of business.

This has really got to be frustrating for the networks. Imagine a blow-dried news reporter trying to get some drama on tape:...................

Sigh. Turn off the camera. It just won't do. You Iowans - you don't sing, you don't dance, you don't loot, you don't beg, you don't scream at the cameras, you don't even shoot at the helicopters. You're even working instead of sitting in the street whining. Just wait until I tell this at my next white wine and cheese salon when I get back to Martha's Vineyard. They won't believe it. No, alas, this isn't Katrina. No Pulitzer prize for me here."

http://www.jaspernewsboy.com/news/2008/ ... t/022.html