No cynicism thread

[RoBoTeq]

I have decided that I, as well as most others, have been caught up in the constant cynical attitudes of the media and people using war and natural disasters as an excuse to propogate hate and regression, and I am going to try very hard to avoid being that way any longer.

There are some real hero stories coming out of the hurricane and flood areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and those are the stories we need to dwell on.

The blame lies firmly on the hurricane. The end.

People have made many bad choices, that is for sure. From the choice to live in an area that is so vulnerable, to the choice to not leave a devastated area for fear of losing what is already gone, people have made bad choices.

The choices that people make should not take away from the fact that when the chips are down, they deserve help. There has been offers of help from just about every nation in the world. While some are attempting to gain from their help, most are just extending a hand to other human beings and that is the way it should be.

There are local heros of all races in the hurricane affected areas right now. All races have been affected and no one is dying because of their race. People are however dying, and they all need for the rest of us to just shut the hell up and extend good will to them.

The flood waters are just now getting to a point of being controllable. People are already opening their damaged homes and businesses to those who are worse off.

The federal government is a huge agency that takes time to organize for a tragedy like this that is still basically being perpetuated by the flood waters. No one can still nature. Even with the initial confusion as to should have done what and when, there was still the water to contend with.

This is not a disaster that is quite the same as most disasters in that the impact did not hit and run quickly. As a matter of fact, New Orleans survived the hurricane fairly well. It was the flood from the levy's breaking and filling the bowls that serve as the base for New Orleans that caused most of the trouble. Bowls don't just drain very easily and that is what these people are now contending with.

The point is that this is a situation that continued to degrade over a much longer period of time then most natural disasters do and so was much more difficult to deal with.

The bizarre attitude of so many to blame others in order to propogate their social or political agendas is more of a disaster then the flood damage itself.

Lets dwell on saving those who remain and need saving, rebuilding this area better then it was and get rid of the added baggage of hate that we have been displaying during this time when we need most to come together.

[hvac3901]

"I have decided that I, as well as most others, have been caught up in the constant cynical attitudes of the media and people using war and natural disasters as an excuse to propogate hate and regression, and I am going to try very hard to avoid being that way any longer."


This is one reason why i don't have cable. News is nothing more than the media machine propigating its own exsistance. The more they scare you, the more you think you need to know, and watch, hav'nt watched the news really since i was in the military, and you know, i don't worry as much anymore. get it from a newspapper and skip all the drama of the news cast

[joey791]

Well said Robo, I agree with you 100%

[RoBoTeq]

Likewise, I normally avoid the news "as it is being fed to us". I usually wait a week or so to see what developes before jumping on the blame bandwagon that we have been constantly been fed over the past few decades.

There are some very good things that come out of some very bad times and these are the things we need to give us hope for ourselves as human beings.

[2hot2coolme]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RoBoTeq


The blame lies firmly on the hurricane. The end.



I could live with that!

[RoBoTeq]

A young black man, not too well spoken, was being interviewed in Houston because so many had pointed him out as being the one who rescued them.

Seems that after getting his own family out of a flooded and damaged house and to safety, this young man left the safety of dry ground and went back into his neighborhood to help others out.

Eventually finding someone with an accesable boat, the two of them kept going back and pulling people out of houses till everyone in the neighborhood was safe. This is the kind of thing that heroic people lose their lives over, yet this young man seemed unaffected by the praise.

He said that while he has always lived in New Orleans, he will never go back. Said he never wants to chance living through such devastation. As of the time of the interview, this man had several job offers lined up in Houston doing whatever kind of work he could get so he can move out of the Astrodome.

[hvacguy1075]

Well said robo

[joey791]

Hopefully one of yall speak Spanish because I cant figure out how to get the video to play.

http://teletrece.canal13.cl/t13/html/
go to the 4th on the calender and in the lower left hand group of articles you see a man and a woman hugging, this is a short version of that story.

Will be using race in this post to set up the story.

This is an article about a woman from Chile, unfortunately I cant read Spanish or figure out how to get the video to work, this woman was a Tulane University student, she was saved by an older black lady that we call Mrs.Sunshine, but I believe her real name is Mrs.Tilly , Mrs. Sunshine is a 31 year veteran school teacher that never missed a day of school until Katrina came along, she was with a white family and a black family that knew each other, making the story short, a church bus from Lapanto, Arkansas was sent by a pastor to pick up both families, as they jumped on the bus Mrs.Sunshine noticed Pamela Vasquez alone and scared, she grabbed her and got her on the bus too, they came into our church shelter on Friday night, the next morning the church found out that Pamela's husband was in Houston looking for her, they got in contact and the picture you see is them reuniting at our church.

[Edited by joey791 on 09-09-2005 at 12:40 AM]

[oroy54]

I dont want to give you the idea that I am against Blacks. The women and children are fine. The black men and boys are bad. They made their reputation for themselves, not me. If I invite the women and the children in to my home. Well here comes the black men and the black boys. Hummmm? I have to take care of my own. That is just the way it is. I may be slammed for this, but it is the truth. Sorry Roy

[double bubble]

No not slamed you should be praised for being honest .

[Senior Tech]

Originally posted by oroy54
I dont want to give you the idea that I am against Blacks. The women and children are fine. The black men and boys are bad. They made their reputation for themselves, not me. If I invite the women and the children in to my home. Well here comes the black men and the black boys. Hummmm? I have to take care of my own. That is just the way it is. I may be slammed for this, but it is the truth. Sorry Roy

To stereotype and suggest an entire race/sex is bad is plain wrong. The young black man that Robo described should be evidence enough for you, the lad is a hero...why can't people accept that there are good people as well as bad people of every race...the Archie Bunker mentality is what keeps a portion of our country seperated. They made they're reputations? Well I guess with Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, etc...all caucasion men are murderers and rapists?

[Steve Wiggins]

Pam knew this was coming and I pay for FEMA relief .... My employees dropped the ball and I won't let it happen to Calif when the quakes hit.

[Diceman]

It's just hard to overlook how inept the whole thing was handled. Most guys in FEMA were appointed as political favors, they had no clue. It brings out the problem with our administration, hell bent on Iraq and ignoring our countries issues as well as constantly doing damage control and spin doctoring their many screw ups.

[Green Mountain]

Well if you want big government then be prepared for big catasthpies when sh!t happens.

What do you think that small business survive even though we have big corporations trying to suck up every dollar? The reason is they are too big. Goodman or Carrier can not deliver a 3 ton condensing unit to Mrs. Smith tomorrow morning. But Pennwood or Spotts Bros. or BCH could.

It is funny though. Who's fault was it. 9-11 was the same thing. Who's fault was it? How about the terrorist that flew the planes? Do you think maybe they were at fault?

[tonys]

Originally posted by double bubble
No not slamed you should be praised for being honest .

an honest racist?

(characterizing and isolating for black-males?)

[tonys]

Originally posted by benncool
Well if you want big government then be prepared for big catasthpies when sh!t happens.

What do you think that small business survive even though we have big corporations trying to suck up every dollar? The reason is they are too big. Goodman or Carrier can not deliver a 3 ton condensing unit to Mrs. Smith tomorrow morning. But Pennwood or Spotts Bros. or BCH could.

It is funny though. Who's fault was it. 9-11 was the same thing. Who's fault was it? How about the terrorist that flew the planes? Do you think maybe they were at fault?

so the FBI are free and clear for NOT investigating fully the field reports that "a few middle eastern men (non U.S. citizens) are taking flight training classes in Arizona" ???

(no take-off and landing skills required)

[Green Mountain]

Originally posted by tonys

Originally posted by benncool

so the FBI are free and clear for NOT investigating fully the field reports that "a few middle eastern men (non U.S. citizens) are taking flight training classes in Arizona" ???

(no take-off and landing skills required)

not saying that. A fire department should have hoses that don't leak and trucks that start. But if someone torches a building do we can the fire chief? Who's fault was it? The fire bug or the fire chief?

[tonys]

it's not an easy solution,
but why not 'kill the criminals' AND adjust the environment around them which may help hinder future like-minded individuals?

For example:
use the death penalty on a 1st degree murder charge...AND restrict the sale/possession of automatic assault rifles

...possibly a subject for another thread.

[midhvac]

I agree that the power of the press is truly staggering. It's amazing how they can put a certain spin on the news not just for furthering their own political ideologies, but to increase their listenership or readership. ($$$$) I used to catch myself being brainwashed by them at times and have since become increasingly less gullible. Applying filters to the news can become a tiresome chore.

I think that regardless of one's religious, racial or political views, it's interesting to see a different take on news events once in a while even if it confuses you or ticks you off.

The part that I just can't stand is when the press goe out of their way to make an issue of a non-issue. For example, when they take an isolated incident and attempt to turn it into a trend. Sometimes I wonder if the term "responsible journalism" has become an oxymoron.

[troyorr]

Historically, our govenment has shown itself to be inept during crisis. What makes people think that another NATURAL disaster would suddenly transform our government into models of efficiency? I'm not critizing, just stating my opinion of history. We need to blame someone when sh*t happens. We can't accept there are forces greater than us out there and sometimes we are going to get the shit kicked out of us and we can't do anything about it. It happens all over the world, unfortunately, it happens to be our turn this century. Remember the disaster that hit China in the late 60's. Flooding resulted in the death and displacement of over a million Chinese. Rather than fix blame, lets concentrate on addressing and fixing the problems.