[Dixielandjazz] The Gulf

[Bill Gunter]

Hello John Farrell and all the rest of us . . .

I apologize in advance for posting this on our jazz mailing list. But this 
is an emotionally wrenching event for people in America and we're struggling 
to deal with it as best we can. The hatred and bitterness I feel coming from 
too many sources is NOT helpful.

John Farrell (usually a good and thoughful man)  wrote (regarding the 
devastation news out of New Orleans):

>If Mr. Bush has no trouble in finding the huge amount of money necessary to
fund his foreign adventures why does he not do the same for his own people?
The cost of a dozen cruise missiles should cover it.

Pardon me, but isn't that a bit cynical and hateful toward our overwhelmed 
emergency resources?

We're all talking about New Orleans (a city of about 180,000) as if the 
hurricane only hit that low lying city (which is nearly 70% black and a 
little over a quarter of the population white). The devestation is nearly 
complete.

REMEMBER - We have to add to that the rest of the gulf coast including the 
heavily populated areas of Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile and all the points in 
between.

Here is some information that is easy to overlook:

(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina for more complete 
details)

-----> start clip

Hurricane Katrina was a hurricane that caused extensive and severe damage 
over the southeastern United States, including Louisiana's largest city, New 
Orleans, in August, 2005. Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 
square miles of the United States, AN AREA ALMOST AS LARGE AS THE UNITED 
KINGDOM (emphasis mine).

Katrina may eventually be classified as the worst natural disaster to hit 
the United States to date. Disaster relief plans are in operation in the 
affected areas. Currently, five million people are without power in the Gulf 
Coast region, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored.

-----> end clip

How prepared is the UK for a disaster of this magnitude which would render 
most of the UK a disaster area?

Does anyone think for a moment that any thoughtful person would say hateful 
things about Tony Blair because he was unable to get disaster relief to the 
affected population overnight (Hey, The cost of a dozen cruise missiles 
should cover it)?

It saddens me that people are so quick to condemn what they perceive as an 
uncaring government refusing to respond to a disaster of this sort. How 
quickly could your government (wherever you may be) be able to respond to 
all the needs of your fellow citizens in the face of a tragedy as enormous 
as Hurricane Katrina? Our people are suffering and we're struggling to 
overcome this horrible thing.

Are you aware that of the 190 or so nations represented by the United 
Nations, only twenty five have offered any sort of aid to the U.S.  so far?  
What have citizens of the United States, who have no control of any sort 
over a disaster this huge, done to deserve such condemnation of not only 
much of the rest of the world but also also from many of our own citizens 
who seem to hate the current administration for political reasons?

I promise I will post no further comments of this sort on the DJML. If any 
of you wish to discuss it with me my e-mail is jazzboard at hotmail.com --

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Gunter



>From: "John Farrell" <stridepiano at tesco.net>
>Reply-To: stridepiano at tesco.net
>To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Gulf
>Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 06:21:42 +0100
>
>The pictures we are seeing on British TV say it all, here is this mass of
>impoverished people seemingly abandoned by the authorities, engulfed by a
>tragedy of cataclysmic proportions. The little that they once owned has
>gone, quite understandably some turn to looting in order to survive only to
>be met by gun-toting police who, I presume, prefer to let the looted goods
>rot.
>
>For me the most telling aspect of the awful scene is that the all the
>thousands of victims are black, I did not see one white face among them.
> >From that I inferred that they were from the poorer end of the local 
>social
>strata.
>
>If Mr. Bush has no trouble in finding the huge amount of money necessary to
>fund his foreign adventures why does he not do the same for his own people?
>The cost of a dozen cruise missiles should cover it.
>
>John Farrell
>http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Dixielandjazz mailing list
>Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
Gang . . .

We're all talking about New Orleans as if the hurricane only hit that low 
lying city (which is nearly 70% black and a little over a quarter of the 
population white. The devestation is nearly complete.

We have to add to that the rest of the gulf coast including the heavily 
populated areas of Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile and all the points in between.

Here is some information that is easy to overlook:

Hurricane Katrina was a hurricane that caused extensive and severe damage 
over the southeastern United States, including Louisiana's largest city, New 
Orleans, in August, 2005. Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 
square miles of the United States, an area almost as large as the United 
Kingdom.

Katrina may eventually be classified as the worst natural disaster to hit 
the United States to date. Disaster relief plans are in operation in the 
affected areas. Currently, five million people are without power in the Gulf 
Coast region, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored.




>From: "John Farrell" <stridepiano at tesco.net>
>Reply-To: stridepiano at tesco.net
>To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The Gulf
>Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 06:21:42 +0100
>
>The pictures we are seeing on British TV say it all, here is this mass of
>impoverished people seemingly abandoned by the authorities, engulfed by a
>tragedy of cataclysmic proportions. The little that they once owned has
>gone, quite understandably some turn to looting in order to survive only to
>be met by gun-toting police who, I presume, prefer to let the looted goods
>rot.
>
>For me the most telling aspect of the awful scene is that the all the
>thousands of victims are black, I did not see one white face among them.
> >From that I inferred that they were from the poorer end of the local 
>social
>strata.
>
>If Mr. Bush has no trouble in finding the huge amount of money necessary to
>fund his foreign adventures why does he not do the same for his own people?
>The cost of a dozen cruise missiles should cover it.
>
>John Farrell
>http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Dixielandjazz mailing list
>Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz