# Fire in the hold



## Rhisiart (Oct 25, 2007)

Contrast California's efficient evacuation of people under threat of forest fires with the poor old folks of New Orleans.

A better organized state or do wealthy homes make a difference?


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## hawki18 (Oct 25, 2007)

rhisiart said:


> Contrast California's efficient evacuation of people under threat of forest fires with the poor old folks of New Orleans.
> 
> A better organized state or do wealthy homes make a difference?



The mayor of New Orleans and the gov or the state both had there heads up there asses, should statred force evacuation way ealier.  Also the gov has to ask the fedreral goverment to intervine, I guess the reason for that is not to violate the states laws, and the gov did not do anything to the last minute.  I lived in San Diego are for years and not all the area effected has expensive homes.  The San Diego county and gov Arnold just are making good premtive moves.


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## reed (Nov 21, 2007)

Now that the fires are out in California and the waters have receded in New Orleans. What's up in Bangledesh? Two twigs and a fishing line?


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## Satcomer (Nov 21, 2007)

I feel that most other US States learned a lesson on what NOT to do from the New Orleans fiasco.


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## mdnky (Nov 25, 2007)

hawki18 said:


> The mayor of New Orleans and the gov or the state both had there heads up there asses, should statred force evacuation way ealier.  Also the gov has to ask the fedreral goverment to intervine, I guess the reason for that is not to violate the states laws, and the gov did not do anything to the last minute.  I lived in San Diego are for years and not all the area effected has expensive homes.  The San Diego county and gov Arnold just are making good premtive moves.



That just about sums it up perfectly.  The problem in NOLA was idiot officials and politicians for the most part, with a small issue being bull-headed residents who didn't want to leave.


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## Rhisiart (Nov 25, 2007)

reed said:


> Now that the fires are out in California and the waters have receded in New Orleans. What's up in Bangledesh? Two twigs and a fishing line?


To my amazement, British news actually covered the Bangladesh floods, although with no where near the same saturation coverage as with the New Orleans and California disasters.

The call Great Britain the 51st State. It's not hard to see why. I think its envy.


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## bbloke (Nov 25, 2007)

rhisiart said:


> The call Great Britain the 51st State. It's not hard to see why. I think its envy.


This is probably not the reason for the slant on the news, in my opinion.  If the same disasters hit Europe, I'd expect the news over here to offer similar coverage.  I think it's the case that, in the West, lives in the Third World are seen as somehow worth less than those in the West, although I don't think that's deliberate.  The coverage of wars, famines, dictatorships, poverty, and the like possibly makes people who are far removed from it all rather desensitized ("here we go again," "why can't they sort themselves out," etc.).  This is even easier if it occurs many miles away, in a culturally different location; there is less identification with the victims as people just like you and me.  When disasters strike in the West, where it is somewhat less expected and the population can be more easily identified with, it probably affects the British population more, as it feels closer to home.

(Note: I'm not saying the above is a good thing, I think compassion fatigue is something we have to be wary of!)


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## Satcomer (Nov 25, 2007)

I find your Great Britain comment interesting. I would expect you would get a lot more Canadian programming choices rather than American. American TV is bad enough but just to think your country's choice to use these stupid programs when us Americans are even tuning most of them out. The DVR is gift from above and we all should take full advantage of it.


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## reed (Nov 26, 2007)

Just a quick thought:
   People don't want to "LEAVE" horrible conditions despite all because certain folks have nothing else. Nothing. Especially in the Third World. (I'm including certain parts of Europe and the USA). Those that have good insurance or have a few pennies can. It won't be as before... but at least they can return. Malibu will be re-built even better. I know it. A big loss for sure for those concerned. One Californian I heard said all her memories (personal affects, etc.) were gone...as she was filming her burnt house from a 4 Wheel Drive. Sad indeed. However, I just didn't feel as moved from images I saw in New Orleans or Indonesia.


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