A pair of disasters

[infrogmation]

Links mostly for my reference, but of possible interest to some:

Katrina related:
"It Was as if All of Us Were Already Pronounced Dead'", Washington Post, re: NOLA Convention Center

Hurricanes Rain on Bush’s Tax Cut Parade

DIY Disaster relieif

And on BushCo's "Make War, Not Levees" priority:
Iraq's Disappearing Billions

Analysis by Askesis

Comments

[jdquintette.livejournal.com]

Well, welcome to the United States of Who Gives a Shit About You.

I spend a lot of time abroad, mostly in Canada and Britain, and none of this is news to people there. They think we're all batshit crazy, and frankly we're not doing much these days to disprove that notion.

Back in the old days (say 10 years ago) a lot of ferriners were buying the bullshit because their entire experience of the United States came from American television, where the poor do not exist. Consequently I was constantly getting into conversations where people's jaws dropped in astonishment at the ugly truth ("whaddaya mean you have no health insurance?!") that so contradicted our carefully burnished, media image as the Shining City on the Hill that the grubby masses worldwide all aspire to. Conversely I'm always amazed at how surprised some Americans are when I tell them that the world is filled with millions of Canadians and Australians and Italians who all live in functioning democracies (Hey! I thought we were the only ones who have 'freedom') and harbor no desire whatsoever to emmigrate to America to clean toilets for minimum wage.

I mean kee-rist what was all that pear-clutching about 'the face of poverty exposed' during Katrina? I guess living in New Orleans right in the middle of all that stuff it comes as a bit less of a rude awakening.