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"Police Trapped Thousands in New Orleans"
This story about a group of people trapped in NO, trying to get out is so outrageous that I almost couldn't believe it when I read it yesterday. But the San Francisco Chronicle has picked up the story, as have a number of other papers. I imagine they check their sources before running a story like that.
I had been wondering why people didn't simply walk out on foot. Answer: They were stopped, by force. By the Gretna police department.
As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the
foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing
their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various
directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and
managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our
conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The
sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to
get us to move.
We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there
was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was
not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their
City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing
the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.
[...]
Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct.
Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol
vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway".
A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy
structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food
and water.
Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law
enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups
of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot".
We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because
the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.
Not only did the police stop them from leaving the city, they took away their food and water.
Unfuckingbelievable.
This guy,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alobar, whose journal I've been reading these past days, reports being turned back as well.
I followed a couple more links, the story looks legit. One rather wishes it weren't.
I had been wondering why people didn't simply walk out on foot. Answer: They were stopped, by force. By the Gretna police department.
As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the
foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing
their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various
directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and
managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our
conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The
sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to
get us to move.
We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there
was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was
not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their
City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing
the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.
[...]
Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking City) was correct.
Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff showed up, jumped out of his patrol
vehicle, aimed his gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway".
A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to blow away our flimsy
structures. As we retreated, the sheriff loaded up his truck with our food
and water.
Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway. All the law
enforcement agencies appeared threatened when we congregated or congealed into groups
of 20 or more. In every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot".
We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was impossible because
the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.
Not only did the police stop them from leaving the city, they took away their food and water.
Unfuckingbelievable.
This guy,
alobar, whose journal I've been reading these past days, reports being turned back as well.I followed a couple more links, the story looks legit. One rather wishes it weren't.
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In the interest of fairness, one poster over in the paramedics' journal explains in detail (http://www.livejournal.com/users/sfsocialists/3687.html?thread=14439#t14439) why the Police wouldn't let anyone cross and it's not completely unplausible - apparently/allegedly they had trouble evacuating the West Bank as well and there was no way out that way (though that wouldn't explain why they'd let cars pass).
But even so, even if they had a real good reason for sealing off the bridge, there's no excuse to treat these people like revolting prisoners, not explain anything, shoot over their heads, point weapons at them, and take away their supplies. Really, that last part was where my jaw just dropped.
Fortunately you also hear stories of kindness and generosity inmidst all this crap. It's not the people, it's the system. The system's rotten to the core.
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You're right about the system being the problem. IMO America is the modern-day Roman empire. We're about to crumble. :(
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There're so many important things to be done. For example, on the top of the agenda should be to get the hell rid of those electronic, paper-trail free voting machines (result guaranteed by manufacturer), or your can scrap the next elections as the outcome will be predictable. There needs to be protest, outrage. I never understood why the public just watched during the last election with all the irregularities going on. And that's just one example.
Eastern Germany managed a peaceful revolution. Other countries have done it.
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I'm not being fatalistic about the future of the U.S. because of the New Orleans disaster alone. That actually has very little to do with it aside from illustrating the ineptness of government bureaucracies. IMO peak oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil) and the collapse of the U.S. dollar will be the country's undoing. I really, really hope that I'm wrong.
I never understood why the public just watched during the last election with all the irregularities going on.
AFAIC it's just another symptom of the corruption in the system. Although it makes me angry, I'm not motivated to do anything about it because the Republicans and Democrats are essentially one party. Their platforms are practically identical. Both espouse big- (read: quasi-socialist) goverment empirialism. It doesn't really matter if a Democrat or Republican is in the Oval Office. They have similar agendas.
To make matters worse, the Republicrats have convinced the vast majority of Amercians that so-called "third parties" like Libertarian, Greens, Socialist, etc. are all crackpots. Since it now takes millions of dollars to promote a presidential candidate, third party candidates hardly stand a chance.
Eastern Germany managed a peaceful revolution. Other countries have done it.
Here's hoping.
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Doesn't even matter, even if it didn't make a difference - if the democratic process itself is defunct in a nation that is busy exporting democracy across the globe... there needs to be done something.
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Sadly, yes. In the presidential debates Kerry and Bush said that they'd keep troops in Iraq. Kerry was just more wishy-washy about it. Both parties will keep taxing citizens every way they can and essentially throw it away in the black holes of Social Security, Medicare, and the like. Radical changes are needed, but no one in the establishment will risk their careers to make them. Short of an administration doing something so absymally stupid that it prompts an armed revolt, I don't think any amount of protesting will help. The PTB are too entrenched.
Lesser of two evils and all that.
That argument holds no water for me. I vote my conscience, even if the candidate I vote for has no chance of winning.
if the democratic process itself is defunct in a nation that is busy exporting democracy across the globe
Please tell me that you don't buy that. The Bush administration, like virtually every administration since the mid-1800's, is installing puppet governments under the pretext of "spreading democracy." The American military and policy makers can't seem to mind their own business. Rather than take care of their own, they screw with other nations' people.
Bitter, table for one? *sigh*
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No, I don't buy that, I was being sarcastic. ;)
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I still can't quite believe how all this shit can happen in the richest country in the world. I'm shocked and disgusted; it's reassuring to be reminded that most Americans are actually caring people who are just as shocked and disgusted themselves.
It just makes me so damn angry.
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I still can't quite believe how all this shit can happen in the richest country in the world. I'm shocked and disgusted; it's reassuring to be reminded that most Americans are actually caring people who are just as shocked and disgusted themselves.
Exactly. See my reply to starborn_scribe above.
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But I promised to scan something for you a while back and I finally managed to both get the right sfx and scan it for you.
So uhm, here they are:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/liliaeth/spare/sfxbiger.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/liliaeth/spare/sfxbiger.jpg
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I wonder what other inhumanities will be revealed ….
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