John Massey wrote in a message to Ross Sauer:

JM>  The facts are on my side. Anthropologists will tell you that in any
JM> culture you are likely to have about 10% of the population that will
JM> only do what they absolutely have to do to survive. Nothing more.


JM> New Orleans, it seems, had more than their share.

WOuld agree somewhat with this.  My wife and I managed five apartment
buildings in innercity NEW ORleans for two years.

JM> The fact is that New Orleans had a higher percentage of people on
JM> welfare - people living off the efforts of others - than any other
JM> major city in this country.
Aided and abetted by their government I might add.

JM> The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Look around the country at
JM> the cities and towns where the New Orleans refuse was dumped. Within
JM> days the New Orleans street gangs were trying to take over Houston,
JM> Texas high schools.

Again agreed, and saw plenty of this when we managed those apartment
buildings. A kid whose mom worked housekeeping at another hospital.  HE
sold crack and fought pit bulls. some of these parasites needed some real
gun control, as in they needed to hit what they aimed at.  INstead, they
damaged buildings and cars all around when they played O.K. corral.


Again aided and abetted by a city that cannot thrive without the working
poor. SOme examples for you:

Many of these working poor do not need automobiles to live effectively,
therefore do not own them.  sEe my statement about the lawyer in my
previous message re: this topic, though a different thread.

when asked what to do with special needs folks, i.e. those on respirators
etc. WHo had no ability to evacuate the city and other agencies told people
to take them to the hospital where they normally received medical care.
THose of us who work with hospitals know that the first responsibility of a
hospital is to the patients currently receiving medical care at the
facility.  HOspitals go into lockdown during such situations. We had to
arrange to get our critical patients out asap and eventually get the others
to facilities actually able to care for them.  A hospital cannot allow an
uncontrolled influx of people. SOme folks sheltering at the superdome ended
up commandeering a boat and trying to get to University hospital.  OUr
security isolated them and confined them until they could be returned
there.

University hospital told the city more than once as did other hospitals
that they'd have to stockpile supplies etc. to deal with those who must
shelter within the metro area as they could not evacuate. tHe city sat on
the problem, made no plans.  YEt less than 24 hours before Katrina made
landfall the city made contact with LSu medical center needing medical
supplies for the superdome. THey were told then that those needs could not
be met as University and CHarity hospitals only had what supplies we
needed.

THe economy of NEw ORleans depended heavily upon the maids, bus boys,
waiters, etc.  Essentially low paid service workers. Although there are
some I"m sure who could have made a run for safety with an old beater
car many who remained had no ability to leave the city. THeir
transportation consists of their two feet; buses; streetcars, etc.

Hurricanes are nothing new to the civic leaders in NEW ORleans.  tHis old
man grew up in the midwest and could figure out waht was going to happen to
a city built below sea level surrounded by levees to make a large bowl. 
This caused me to wonder why a major hospital put the auxiliary generator
in the basement.

A city which provides good low cost public transport to enable
aforementioned low paid service workers to get to jobs has some
responsibility to assure the same workers safety when the inevitable
hurricane is coming.  IF this means evacuation, which logic dictates it
should, then these leaders should plan to provide a means to do so for the
large segment of the population which cannot evacuate by private
automobile.  Hence, I maintain the government of the city and state bears a
large part of the responsibility for what happened in that city.

Airlines, Greyhound and AMtrack sent rolling stock out of that city with
empty seats. Amtrack ran one train in after the hurricane but before the
waters rose only to have the engineers told to get the train out of there
with many empty seats. SOme reports say they were ordered out of there at
gunpoint.

Regards,
           Richard
... A good captain is hoisting his first drink in a bar when the storm hits.
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+