Wake Up!

I've been reading article after article about the situation on the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans.

There have been reports of ambulances being shot at, rescuers being shot at, and an entire host of stores being looted completely. I've seen pictures of kids taking T.V.s out of stores. What the hell are you going to do with a T.V. in twenty feet of water? Wal-Mart opened its doors to victims for anything they needed. The first thing to go? The guns. A bunch of thugs went in and took all the guns. It's ridiculous. At this point it's so bad I have been reading reports of the mayor tasking the local police force with stopping the looting as opposed to saving people's lives. To get into a particular Rite-Aid, one idiot stole a forklift, drove it four blocks, and parked it inside the front door. You can imagine what happened after that.

There have been other reports of people taking safeguarding their homes and businesses into their own hands. One man had his own guns and was shooting at these punks trying to rob him. Good for him. He said two kids with machetes came up to him and said they wanted his generator. He responded with several reports from a .357. They scattered.

Martial law? What law is there at all? At first I was horrified that a state of martial law was declared, but in light of this stinking cesspool of humanity I now know why. In New York during 9/11 we had reports of assistance, of firefighters risking their lives to save others. People bonded together and there was a new sense of unity for everyone - even if only short-lived. With New Orleans, people aren't helping each other. They are shooting at red cross workers and ambulances. This is absolutely infuriating. Why would anyone do that?

Then you move to the effect this is having on the rest of the country. These greedy oil executives are chomping at the bits. Now they get their chance to play OPEC and cut down on oil production. Here in the mid-south as of last night gas prices were soaring to well over three dollars a gallon, with stations running out of gas all over the region. At least the feds decided to dip into the emergency reserve, which limited the damage. This situation is almost as bad as the looters, only this one involves wearing a suit. They say we have a shortage, that the Mississippi river is low due to a drought and is preventing barges from carrying as much oil. Now add the stoppage of production in the gulf, along with refinery problems, and we have a major national crisis looming. It's called wag-the-dog.

I could go on and on but I won't. I must comment however, on how this whole situation is being handled. It's almost as if the entire region is in chaos - even the officials. The Superdome residents were not allowed to leave, and there was no security inside. There have been reports of rapes, suicides, robbings, and a whole mess of other crimes taking place in the make-shift shelter. How do officials respond? There is no security force whatsoever, and people were not allowed to leave the building. Trash was piled up inside, toilets backed up and overflowed, and the heat continued to rise inside as there was no electricity at all. Great place, one man who had spent time in prison said the Superdome was worse than prison. At least in prison they have toilets and showers.

This is a horrible situation all around. On one hand it is hard to fathom how to provide any security, but on the other it is hard to fathom how we were not - at all - for a long period of time. And that's the situation. There is no security, no plan of action, no nothing. Just a mandate to get out. I guess that's the best plan at this point, get the hell out. I would advise never going back. Houston has done a wonderful job opening its gates, and I hope more cities continue to do the same. The fewer people left in New Orleans the better. Most of those that remain are up to no good anyway. And to make matters worse, we have huge commercial acts of exploitation, like the oil industry's.

Let's all hope for the best, and for my part I will send a donation to the Red Cross. Maybe they can buy some bullet proof vests and armoured vehicles with it. I guess when I look at the big picture I realize there is a huge need for society to wake up and look at what we are really doing to each other. In light of the worst natural disaster in a century we are talking about robbing a Wal-Mart instead of helping the helpless. We use this as an excuse to raise prices on everything from coffee to gas, and anything in between. Wake up people. Take a hit to your precious bottom line for once, and lend a helping hand.