As opposed to their ultra-conservative neighbor Texas. Despite having more wealth - as a state - than all but ten countries in the world, Texas has a 25% poverty rate. Their educational system was devastated by GW’s attempts at deregulation, which included state money for unregulated, private schools (i.e. scam artists running non-existent schools). But at least they have avoided the liberal scourge of corruption…just ask Tom Delay, right? [/quote]
You have NO idea what you are talking about. Schools like these?
[quote]hedo wrote:
Nagen is now fighting with Thad Allen because the Admiral “stepped out of line” by speaking directly to the people telling them NO is not ready for them. He was pontificating on CNN.
Do you think Ray and Mary Landriue will be suprised if the city gets flooded by Rita and the military and Fema didn’t make them do the right thing despite themselves.[/quote]
Everytime I hear Nagen opens his mouth he sounds like a moron. You would think that the people of NO would have picked someone who could string a few coherent sentences together, and then draw at least one logical conclusion.
Those schools sound great. My understanding was that the implementation of Texas’s version of No Child Left Behind had created a situation where the students were getting better at taking the state tests, but weren’t fairing well on the natinoal tests. I read in a 2003 book that Texas students were doing well on the state tests, but ranked 47th nationally on college placement tests.
I admittedly know little about Texas education, and I should not have impugned those schools unfairly. I have a Masters in Education, and come from a family of teachers. None of us like the standards-based teaching, particularly when the federal money is tied to it. But that is for another thread…
“Everytime I hear Nagen opens his mouth he sounds like a moron. You would think that the people of NO would have picked someone who could string a few coherent sentences together, and then draw at least one logical conclusion. [/quote]”
Replace “Nagen” with “Bush”, and “NO” with “USA”…hmmm
Everytime I hear Nagen opens his mouth he sounds like a moron. You would think that the people of NO would have picked someone who could string a few coherent sentences together, and then draw at least one logical conclusion. [/quote]
I am not a native of Texas but have lived here for 10 years. I had kids who went thru schools in other states, and now 2 step kids in here.
Texas has a debaucle system of starting school in early August, mid second week. They get more breaks then any other school system. I am part of a group trying to change it. We have facts on energy savings, improved scores, reduced child care problems. Biggest opponents are the teachers unions. They like the increased time off they get and fight us constantly. Also the placing of sports ahead of academics still goes on. Friday Night Lights was right on the mark.
[quote]dermo wrote:
Those schools sound great. My understanding was that the implementation of Texas’s version of No Child Left Behind had created a situation where the students were getting better at taking the state tests, but weren’t fairing well on the natinoal tests. I read in a 2003 book that Texas students were doing well on the state tests, but ranked 47th nationally on college placement tests.
I admittedly know little about Texas education, and I should not have impugned those schools unfairly. I have a Masters in Education, and come from a family of teachers. None of us like the standards-based teaching, particularly when the federal money is tied to it. But that is for another thread…[/quote]
[quote]ZEB wrote:
Everytime I hear Nagen opens his mouth he sounds like a moron. You would think that the people of NO would have picked someone who could string a few coherent sentences together, and then draw at least one logical conclusion. [/quote]
Holy crap, ZEB…
You have GOT to be more careful.
Wow.
How is it that every single lib you ever got into an argument with over Bush and his “speaking style” hasn’t jumped on this… I just don’t know.
Texas has a debaucle system of starting school in early August, mid second week. They get more breaks then any other school system. I am part of a group trying to change it. We have facts on energy savings, improved scores, reduced child care problems. Biggest opponents are the teachers unions. They like the increased time off they get and fight us constantly. Also the placing of sports ahead of academics still goes on. Friday Night Lights was right on the mark.
[/quote]
Each school district in Texas decides when to start school. It is not a statewide issue. My kids started mid-July and they get a week off after every 6 weeks. Other schools around here started the last week of August. No matter when they start, every school district has the same number of class days per year (give or take a waiver day or two). When do you think they should start, and how many days a year do you think they should be in school?
Teacher’s unions have virtually no power in Texas. Less than half of teachers are active in a union. In fact, none of the teachers I’ve worked with have been union members. Everything is decided by the local school boards, which are elected positions. If you don’t like the way they do things in your district, get elected (or get someone elected) to the board and change things.
Why is it always the governments fault? Why cant people take care of themselves? If you ask me, these people were just lazy and now they want handouts. To be sure, federal assistance is good to help businesses get back on there feet, but why should we pay for a hotel room? thats ridiculous.
I know a few people that volunteered to go down there and help. You know how they were received? Well, the shitheads compained that they had deli sndwiches instead of Mc Donalds, water instead of alcohol, and cots instead of beds. And when one of the volunteers asked a group of guys at a shelter to help him inflate an air mattress for someone, they group of guys started calling him a “cracker” and cussed him out. Oh, and did I mention they got shot at? I wouldnt give two shits about helping those scumbags out.
Another thing…what is with all the looting? People think they can just break into stores and steal now when the chips are down? That costs you, me, and everyone money in the long run. And not only did they steal food, but these jackoffs were stealing Nikes, designer clothes, and wide screen televisions (among other absurdly non-essentila items). Now, tell me how that helps anyone. And since when can a mayor say that it is ok for people to break into private businesses? How does he have the right? The mayor should be put in jail.
Ill tell you one more thing. If idiots did something like this where i live in the aftermath of a NATURAL disaster, they would be shot onsite. And you know what? No charges would be filed.
I have no sympathy for these inner-city idiots. They are thankful for nothing and expect handouts at every turn in life. Where is my handout? I have been paying taxes for a long time, but I dont get any damn handouts. Its high time people stopped looking towards the government for everything. Was the hurricane a terrible thing? Yes. Do i feel bad for the people who lost everything? Yes. Do I feel bad for people stuck in the city? No, not unless they are elderly or sick and because of that could not evacuate.
Bottom line: The mayor of New Orleans should be put in jail. The people who loote should have been shot. The unthankful should be told to shove it up their ass. And last but certainly not least…people need to stop depending on the government for everything. Quit being shitheads and do something positive instead of negative. The government is not responsible for getting me out of the way of a hurricane. I am. End of story.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
ZEB wrote:
Everytime I hear Nagen opens his mouth he sounds like a moron. You would think that the people of NO would have picked someone who could string a few coherent sentences together, and then draw at least one logical conclusion.
Holy crap, ZEB…
You have GOT to be more careful.
Wow.[/quote]
I’m not talking about a few garbled words. I’m talking about actually making sense relative to the very serious issues which are facing NO. The first thing the NO voters need to do is vote that guy out of office and put someone in who can actually help them.
[quote]
How is it that every single lib you ever got into an argument with over Bush and his “speaking style” hasn’t jumped on this… I just don’t know.
Bottom line: The mayor of New Orleans should be put in jail.[/quote]
How about simply remove from office?
Are you going to shoot a Mother who is stealing food for her 18 month old child? Blanket statements can get you in trouble.
However, I will say that it seemed most of the looting revolved around people stealing electronics. Would I shoot them? No, I just couldn’t pull the trigger on someone who taking a piece of electronic equipment. Call me an old softie…
There are plenty who are “unthankful.” There always are in situations like this. But, there are also plenty who are very thankful. Let’s focus on them.
I have to agree 100% with you on this one! Those who stayed behind did themselves and their respective families a real disservice! You are never so poor that you cannot begin to walk away from impending doom.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
GeneralLee wrote:
And last but certainly not least…people need to stop depending on the government for everything. Quit being shitheads and do something positive instead of negative. The government is not responsible for getting me out of the way of a hurricane. I am. End of story.
I have to agree 100% with you on this one! Those who stayed behind did themselves and their respective families a real disservice! You are never so poor that you cannot begin to walk away from impending doom.
[/quote]
Um, so when a category 4 hurricane is coming, they should just get on I-10 and start walking???
[quote]roadkill wrote:
ZEB wrote:
GeneralLee wrote:
And last but certainly not least…people need to stop depending on the government for everything. Quit being shitheads and do something positive instead of negative. The government is not responsible for getting me out of the way of a hurricane. I am. End of story.
I have to agree 100% with you on this one! Those who stayed behind did themselves and their respective families a real disservice! You are never so poor that you cannot begin to walk away from impending doom.
Um, so when a category 4 hurricane is coming, they should just get on I-10 and start walking???[/quote]
You must be one of the people who wanted Bush to send a car for them.
[quote]roadkill wrote:
ZEB wrote:
GeneralLee wrote:
And last but certainly not least…people need to stop depending on the government for everything. Quit being shitheads and do something positive instead of negative. The government is not responsible for getting me out of the way of a hurricane. I am. End of story.
I have to agree 100% with you on this one! Those who stayed behind did themselves and their respective families a real disservice! You are never so poor that you cannot begin to walk away from impending doom.
Um, so when a category 4 hurricane is coming, they should just get on I-10 and start walking???[/quote]
I guess it depends upon when they heard about the impending disaster. I do know that instead of stealing television sets they could have taken an automobile and left. Not trying to sound caustic, however people “choose” when, where and how to fight. I would have directed all of my energy into getting me and my family out of town. Is that difficult to do with plenty of time to do it? I think not.
[quote]dermo wrote:
JackZepplin posted:
“A better question – which few journalists ask – is why weren’t the roughly 2,000 municipal and school buses in New Orleans utilized to take people out of the city before Katrina struck”
I guess this would be the 9th lie about Katrina, huh? In the right wing’s attempt to play the blame game, they have circulated the myth of the 2,000 buses. In fact, this number originated in a NY Times article, which stated that it would have taken 2,000 buses to effectively evacuate the city. The Washington Times twisted this statement, and started the legend of the 2,000 drowning buses. The right-wing echo chamber repeated it, until it has become a “fact”. The city had around 600 working buses, some of which were used for evacuation. Governor Blanco says that she planned on using more of the buses, but that Brownie said to hold off, as he was sending a fleet of federal, air-conditioned buses to the rescue.
[/quote]
Really? Do you have any evidence of your “facts”? Bring it and I’ll review…
Just more evidence that the media doesn’t care about the truth.
"“I’ve got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome,” Beron recalls the doctor saying.
The real total was six, Beron said.
Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the turning over of bodies from a Dome freezer, where they lay atop melting bags of ice. State health department officials in charge of body recovery put the official death count at the Dome at 10, but Beron said the other four bodies were found in the street near the Dome, not inside it. Both sources said no one had been killed inside."
Below is the quote and the link. Maybe there is a link to another article that will provide some evidence of the 2,000 buses.
I think that there is plenty of blame for everyone - state, local, and federal. As far as Bush and the administration decrying the “Blame Game”, they have taken every opportunity to pass blame to the governor and mayor. Did anyone see “Brownie” yesterday, talking about what a “damn good job” he did?
Anyway, here is the bus info, and if anyone has information to the contrary, please share it.
Here is the first mention of 2,000 buses, from a NYTimes article. Note that it says “2,000 buses, far more than New Orleans possessed, would be needed”
“Planning was stymied by a shortage of buses, he said. As many as 2,000 buses, far more than New Orleans possessed, would be needed to evacuate an estimated 100,000 elderly and disabled people.”
“As of 2003, the most recent year for which data appears to be available, the Orleans Parish school district, which operates New Orleans’ public schools, owned only 324 school buses. In addition, a Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development profile of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA), last updated May 5, notes that RTA owned 364 public buses, bringing the total of the city’s public transit and school buses to fewer than 700 (assuming the fleet of school buses has not been dramatically increased since 2003), far fewer than the 2,000 Pruden claimed” http://mediamatters.org/topics/hurricane-katrina.html
Whether it was 2000 buses or 2, they should have been used. Was it “Brownies” responsibility to go to each city to make sure these forms of transportation were used?
Dermo you say “they have taken every opportunity to pass blame to the governor and mayor”. Isn’t that what the media has done to “Brownie” and Bush for that matter?
Whether you realize it or not the feds can’t just go in and take over. That is if they even had time to do so. Being in the emergency services (firefighting) for a while I did get some idea of how things work. It takes time to get the personnel and equipment organized and down there.
While I agree with you that there is plenty of blame to go around, all of the finger pointing is at the feds. Nobody wants to come out and say we screwed up. If you don’t hold a critique and find out where the mistakes were made, at all levels, then not much good will come of this and the same mistakes will be made again.
If the federal response was not the problem, then why are the republicans blocking an independent investigation? Wouldn’t that exonerate them, and properly place the blame on the locals and state? Instead they want a congressional investigation, which given the republican majority, means that republicans would chair all of the committees, ask the questions, and write the final report. $70 million was spent on Kennth Starr’ssupposedly “independent” Clinton investigations (keep in mind that Starr is a far-right member of the Federalist Society). Why not an independent probe of Katrina, similar to the 9/11 probe?
And if Brownie did in fact do a “darn gob job”, then why was he re-assigned? Why did he resign? I know that Bush never listens to polls, and his resolve and the strengths of of convictions lead me to believe that he would not be swayed by public pressure. In fact, a case can be made that he values loyalty over competence…why sell Brownie down the river, if he was really doing a heckuva job?