I am curious- why no criticism of the people in the Midwest who live in flood plains?

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

How many of those in the midwest affected by the flooding don't own a vehicle? Versus the numerous poor in N.O. who didn't own a vehicle and in fact had never been out of N.O.?

It's hard to comprehend poverty in inner cities if you haven't seen it up close. And N.O. was the poorest city of all large cities in the USA.

It' like the kid I took to father & son's campout this spring. I was amazed when he saw a cow and said he had never seen one before. He lives in cattle country and has never seen a cow. What that tells me is that he has probably never been 20 miles from his home. And his family owns a vehcile.

NO was particularly bizarre. You could have a slums on one side of the street and mansions on the other. Very stark contrasts.

[BigFatMeanie]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

Water from the Great Salt Lake "crushing" SLC homes after an earthquake? You need to bone up on your Utah geography. Makes me question your assertion that most Utahns don't have earthquake insurance. If they don't, I haven't much sympathy. I even have it here.

4000+ s.f. home in Utah - insurance = $540/year
Earthquake insurance for same home = $800/year

That is why most people in the Salt Lake Valley don't have earthquake assurance and Cali is generally correct in that most don't have it.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

I guess you just don't like the answers you're getting, Cali.

I don't remember a huge outcry here.

Some reasons for a very different response nationwide to the midwest flooding:

The flooded are not blaming everyone else for their plight.
Local government initial response is not to blame federal government.
The media is hyping local cooperation versus any blaming that might exist.
Local governments are better engaged and functioning in dealing with the disaster.
Better cooperation between local and federal governments.
Images of communities working hard to prepare for the potential disaster and then save their stuff plays better than a community saying "OK now, come save us."
Lack of break down in rule of law.
The New Orleans logistics problems are not there.
Most of the midwest flooding is farm land.
Significant differences in population densities (those affected).
Many of those flooded before learned and rebuilt above the flood plain, using the plain for farming.

New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, and many had reported on that for years. The city had been lucky many times before. It's luck ran out. That they were so ill-prepared for the inevitable, and then abandoned all responsibility and started pointing fingers does not play well with outside observers.

Water from the Great Salt Lake "crushing" SLC homes after an earthquake? You need to bone up on your Utah geography. Makes me question your assertion that most Utahns don't have earthquake insurance. If they don't, I haven't much sympathy. I even have it here.

All you have said is you don't find the people of New Orleans as likable as the people of the Midwest (those great Midwesterners sure don't complain as much and they tend to be so well behaved!).

Flooding on the Mississippi is a disaster waiting to happen. That is why it happens so frequently. The total destruction of SLC is a disaster waiting to happen. A massive earthquake in California is a disaster waiting to happen. A hurricane that smashes through Florida is a disaster waiting to happen. Memphis and St. Louis are situated on the largest fault line in the US; the last huge earthquake that hit the region caused the Mississippi river to flow backwards and permanently altered the landscape of the area. The next one would level most of St. Louis and Memphis (which use tons of brick in home building), and nobody in either city earthquake insurance.

As for the Great Salt Lake "crushing" the homes in SLC, that is precisely what experts believe will occur. You need to brush up on your geography a bit. The SLC base is mostly sand which experts predict would liquify in the event of a major earthquake, causing the entire valley to sink substantially (and then the Great Salt Lake would rush in to fill the lower lying valley, thereby crushing the homes in its path and destroying what wasn't already destroyed). And nobody there has earthquake insurance.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by BigFatMeanie

4000+ s.f. home in Utah - insurance = $540/year
Earthquake insurance for same home = $800/year

That is why most people in the Salt Lake Valley don't have earthquake assurance and Cali is generally correct in that most don't have it.

That's actually going to fit into the Lord's plans perhaps. Earthquake destroys most homes in Utah.

Pack up and go to Jackson County.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

and yet these same people when asked "why you are you defending Bush and the administration" will say "no we are not."

New Orleans was basically a 3rd world country. Most of you have no idea what New Orleans was like.

As if people in that kind of abject poverty, misery, and crime should be able to solve the problem of a major city being suddenly buried underwater.

I really don't get that kind of thinking.

But of course we are talking about rural whites from the West judging these people and condemning them, while at the same time praising rural whites in the midwest.

I don't even know what you are saying? Because some folks are poor, they are beyond criticism? Because their elected local government is incompetent, they are all beyond criticism? I think New Orleans is an example of what happens when government becomes the nursemaid, taking responsibility for so much of people's lives. When government pays the rent, buys the food, etc., no wonder people wonder why the government hasn't come in and saved them. Those folks up the Mississippi are not as dependent on the government for day to day existence. They got a problem, they go out and fix it.

You saw the same thing in France during the heat wave a few years back. Old people dying by the thousands in un-airconditioned nursing homes, and then the government gets blamed. People had given over care for their elderly to the government, wiping their hands of it, so I guess technically it was to blame. But where were the relatives of these people (all "en vacances" with many of the country's doctors). Where were local community organizations to assist? 40 people died in a nursing home around the corner from where we eventually lived and no one in the neighborhood lifted a finger. Societal norms broke down.

The least that could have been done by the local city and state governments was to put people on buses out of town if they didn't have their own transportation. They gambled and lost.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

I don't even know what you are saying? Because some folks are poor, they are beyond criticism? Because their elected local government is incompetent, they are all beyond criticism? I think New Orleans is an example of what happens when government becomes the nursemaid, taking responsibility for so much of people's lives. When government pays the rent, buys the food, etc., no wonder people wonder why the government hasn't come in and saved them. Those folks up the Mississippi are not as dependent on the government for day to day existence. They got a problem, they go out and fix it.

You saw the same thing in France during the heat wave a few years back. Old people dying by the thousands in un-airconditioned nursing homes, and then the government gets blamed. People had given over care for their elderly to the government, wiping their hands of it, so I guess technically it was to blame. But where were the relatives of these people (all "en vacances" with many of the country's doctors). Where were local community organizations to assist? 40 people died in a nursing home around the corner from where we eventually lived and no one in the neighborhood lifted a finger. Societal norms broke down.

The least that could have been done by the local city and state governments was to put people on buses out of town if they didn't have their own transportation. They gambled and lost.

Bullshit. Those farmers in the midwest depend on BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE!!! Those economies are entirely dependent on the government teat and you know it.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

All you have said is you don't find the people of New Orleans as likable as the people of the Midwest (those great Midwesterners sure don't complain as much and they tend to be so well behaved!).

Uh, yeah, what's wrong with that?

You want to say it is very much about race. I disagreed and laid out my case. I'm waiting for yours.

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

Flooding on the Mississippi is a disaster waiting to happen. That is why it happens so frequently. The total destruction of SLC is a disaster waiting to happen. A massive earthquake in California is a disaster waiting to happen. A hurricane that smashes through Florida is a disaster waiting to happen. Memphis and St. Louis are situated on the largest fault line in the US; the last huge earthquake that hit the region caused the Mississippi river to flow backwards and permanently altered the landscape of the area. The next one would level most of St. Louis and Memphis (which use tons of brick in home building), and nobody in either city earthquake insurance.

Well, I do, as well as many of my neighbors, so I guess "nobody" is a bit hyperbolic. Since I do, I will not have much sympathy (in terms of financial loss) for those that don't.

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

As for the Great Salt Lake "crushing" the homes in SLC, that is precisely what experts believe will occur. You need to brush up on your geography a bit. The SLC base is mostly sand which experts predict would liquify in the event of a major earthquake, causing the entire valley to sink substantially (and then the Great Salt Lake would rush in to fill the lower lying valley, thereby crushing the homes in its path and destroying what wasn't already destroyed). And nobody there has earthquake insurance.

If such an event happened its sounds as if there would be few homes left to be crushed by this wall of water. Let's get real. It is much more likely that another hurricane will hit New Orleans than the type of earthquake you describe hitting SLC. As for the insurance issue, I've stated my case.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Bullshit. Those farmers in the midwest depend on BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE!!! Those economies are entirely dependent on the government teat and you know it.

Apples and oranges, and you know it.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by myboynoah

Apples and oranges, and you know it.

That's the best you can say? Sad.

I guess it's respectable for white farmers to get billions in govt. welfare, but not respectable for the descendant of a slave in crime-ridden jobless areas to get food stamps.

Keep it up.

[myboynoah]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

That's the best you can say? Sad.

I guess it's respectable for white farmers to get billions in govt. welfare, but not respectable for the descendant of a slave in crime-ridden jobless areas to get food stamps.

Keep it up.

I can see why you want to change the subject on this one.