I dont care if its been said, I didnt do a search, but

Those debit cards that were handed out to the refugees have been seen being spent at strip bars. One was found to be used for a breast implant, and others buying things such as expensive designer purses and clothes.

I guess they didnt loot enough purses, so they actually had to buy some. And I guess they looted all the food and water they needed, since that wasnt purchased either.

9/21/2005 11:20:29 AM

figures, theyre welfare recipients anyway. they were probably all spending it on booze before this.

reagan was right, the welfare state is wrong.

9/21/2005 11:22:37 AM

So what are you saying, that the majority of people are using them for the wrong purpose?

What percentage are not using these cards for food and shelter? You are trying to make it look like everyone, or at least the vast majority, who received a debit card is using them in ways other than what they are intended to be used for.

How do you know these people didn't immediately find jobs in the areas they were displaced to? If that was the case, and since THEY PROBABLY LOST EVERY FUCKING THING THEY EVER OWNED, it is okay if they console themselves just a little.

9/21/2005 11:29:27 AM

I dont have all the statistics

but consoling themselves? with breast implants?

Do you have any idea how much clothing, furniture, housewares, etc that you can get at goodwill with 2000 dollars? Those cards were to get people back on their feet, replacing what they've lost. I'm not paying so some idiot can sit and drool at some stripper, sorry.

9/21/2005 11:32:19 AM

THABIGL:

Quote :

"figures, theyre welfare recipients anyway. they were probably all spending it on booze before this."

What an idiot ... what else can be said ... There is nothing like using antecdotical stories to reinforce what you already believe ...

9/21/2005 11:40:26 AM

No, I think buying the breast implants are a bad use of money given for a higher purpose.

All I am saying is that I think we should expect that most people used the cards for the right reasons until we have better statistics to show otherwise. We should have more faith in people as a whole, and hold ourselves back from writing off the whole group of people because of the bad actions of a few.

I think the cards are a great idea, people can buy according to their needs. I actually think that a few people abusing the system of cards creates less waste when compared to the government actually trying to calculate how much food to buy per person or clothing, etc.

Maybe the better solution is to give out Food Lion Gift Cards, or Wal-Mart gift cards.

9/21/2005 11:41:06 AM

maybe the better solution is to not give people a "i will never work" attitude by subsidizing them with welfare

9/21/2005 11:44:26 AM

Wait, I thought the debit cards were abandoned before any were given out?

9/21/2005 11:46:00 AM

^^EXACTLY

9/21/2005 11:48:36 AM

Any response by the government to people in a disaster zone is welfare.

Quote :

"wel·fare P Pronunciation Key (wlfâr) n. Health, happiness, and good fortune; well-being. Prosperity. Welfare work. Financial or other aid provided, especially by the government, to people in need. Corporate welfare."

Simply the act of FEMA responding is an act of providing welfare to the people. We can argue all day long about how much welfare to give to the people but I think most would agree that at least some welfare support should be given.

9/21/2005 11:49:13 AM

cuz we know everyone on welfare is a lazy slob who shoulda just died in the hurricane to begin with

9/21/2005 11:49:50 AM

yeah, no way they couldnt have worked their way out of that ghetto to begin with

9/21/2005 11:53:53 AM

There are lots of people that could not afford to or were not able to get themselves out for other reasons than being lazy.

Oh, I don't know, maybe like these people in a nursing home:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/07/katrina.impact/?section=cnn_topstories

This is besides the topic. Plenty of people work in professions where they simply cannot afford to go stay in a hotel somewhere else, or perhaps, all their relatives lived in N.O. and they had no one to go stay with. Perhaps, they couldn't get their entire family out and stayed to be together.

There is no blanket reason why people stayed. For the people who did, for whatever reason, it is our job to help those who have been devastated. No one deserved to lose their shelter or jobs, rich or poor and we must help all of them equally.

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 11:58 AM. Reason : blah]

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 12:00 PM. Reason : spelling]

9/21/2005 11:55:27 AM

perhaps some of them did and some of them didnt. you cant really say since the most you put into the subject is simply calling htem lazy and going about your daily business.

9/21/2005 11:56:05 AM

the local govt sure did do a great job at evacuating their citizens using city and school buses...yeah, way to plan...gosh the NO and LA govts are so efficient...not one ounce of corruption

9/21/2005 11:59:39 AM

My friend's brother says that one of his friends in the government said that all the refugees were buying menthols with their aid money.

And I'm dumb enough to think this anecdote is thread worthy.

9/21/2005 12:01:00 PM

could be worse boon, you coulda said any of the above comments from THABIGL and you'd have been 10x less helpful/insightful.

9/21/2005 12:02:35 PM

Were there enough buses to get everyone out after the evacuation notice was given? Is this entirely logistically possible, could we get every single person out?

What about the people that wouldn't leave, and still won't leave?

Are you saying that we shouldn't help them for being stupid?

Besides, that is totally off topic because the debit cards were handed out to people that did evacuate as well. The question is whether FEMA (THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT) should have given out these cards to people.

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 12:04 PM. Reason : spelling again, damn public schools]

9/21/2005 12:02:49 PM

You have

1. The poorest city in America (per capita)
2. One of the most corrupt local and state govt systems (in LA)
3. A city well below sea level

its a fucking recipe for eventual disaster

9/21/2005 12:04:10 PM

I think the only problem that can be directly faulted here is that the city is below sea level. This is stupid, stupid, stupid. New Orleans should not be rebuilt to the size that it is by federal dollars. IF the free market decides to rebuild there, more power to it.

However, some people chose not to exit the city because of being stuck in traffic on the interstate during previous hurricanes. Just imagine the traffic that would result if everyone or say 90% of new orleans got in their cars and tried to drive out of the city at one time, going in one direction at one time.

Rush hour traffic is no comparison to the chaos that would result. Does anyone have any stats to show how long it would take an entire city to empty itself by car?

I would think the problem would be worse if more of New Orleans was middle class and had two unpaid-for cars they needed to save.

I am probably totally wrong on this but it just seems to me that it would be difficult for an entire city or for that matter, the lower half of a state to drive away in two days time. That is assuming no one has a car accident and ties up traffic.

[Edited on September 21, 2005 at 12:16 PM. Reason : questions]

9/21/2005 12:14:35 PM

OBJECTION - ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

9/21/2005 12:53:46 PM

did anyone complain when the 9/11 families were given $7,000 instant payments?

9/21/2005 3:44:41 PM

^I did. That was bullshit.

9/21/2005 3:55:09 PM

is it too much to ask for links?

9/21/2005 4:01:23 PM

Quote :

"did anyone complain when the 9/11 families were given $7,000 instant payments?"

I have a bigger problem with that then I do this. Heck, if I was a relative of the Oklahoma City bombing I'd be even more pissed. I don't understand why this country has such unbalanced knee-jerk responses to things. How is someone who lost a husband or wife in 9/11, the hurricane, etc. any worse off than someone who lost a husband or wife to a drunk driver, gang violence, or a shark attack. Or why losing a house from Katrina is any worse than losing your house from an earthquake, wildfirem or arson. I don't understand why we throw compensation at some and not others. Treat people the same, vote Libertarian, and drink Kool-Aid.

9/21/2005 4:03:48 PM

well, if i was salisburyboy, i'd tell you it was hush-money paid by a guilty government

but since i'm me, i'd probably say something about it was bush paying back the rich families who got him elected president 10 months earlier

9/21/2005 4:05:18 PM

yeah, so

find me the fucking link

9/21/2005 6:49:39 PM

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SPINNARS?

WERE THEY BUYING SPNIINARS FOR THEIR RIDES??

9/21/2005 7:10:56 PM

Quote :

"Any response by the government to people in a disaster zone is welfare."

ummmm. way to change what was meant by "welfare." You know, that actual system implemented by the US gov't. No one here was bitching about the US gov't simply helping people...

Quote :

"What percentage are not using these cards for food and shelter? You are trying to make it look like everyone, or at least the vast majority, who received a debit card is using them in ways other than what they are intended to be used for."

spot on point!

Quote :

"How do you know these people didn't immediately find jobs in the areas they were displaced to?"

WAY off the point. doing the same thing that rjrumfel is doing: speculating

Quote :

"I'm not paying so some idiot can sit and drool at some stripper, sorry."

welp, its not like we can't trace that card. AND, we ought to be able to trace who it was given to...

Quote :

"There are lots of people that could not afford to"

Why am I poor? because I can't afford to be rich! yeah...

oh, and people in nursing homes are not the people that rjrumfel or THABIGL are railing against... but nice strawman try...

Quote :

"This is besides the topic. Plenty of people work in professions where they simply cannot afford to go stay in a hotel somewhere else"

Thats great. They are poor because they can't afford it? Or maybe you want to look at the actual reasons why these are poor, not some bullshit politically correct version that you've been brainwashed with.

Quote :

"or perhaps, all their relatives lived in N.O. and they had no one to go stay with. Perhaps, they couldn't get their entire family out and stayed to be together."

or perhaps you could speculate some more and give evidence no more compelling than anecdotal...

Quote :

"Were there enough buses to get everyone out after the evacuation notice was given? Is this entirely logistically possible, could we get every single person out?"

so we should do nothing. or, we should excuse unpreparedness by elected officials specifically charged with being prepared. got it.

Quote :

"What about the people that wouldn't leave, and still won't leave?"

simple: fuck em. You're too dumb to get out of the way of a category 4 hurricane when you are 20 feet below sea-level with a big ass lake to your north? we don't need you polluting the gene pool.

Quote :

"Besides, that is totally off topic because the debit cards were handed out to people that did evacuate as well. The question is whether FEMA (THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT) should have given out these cards to people."

So, you are saying that people who left must not have had any damage to their property, right? Cause the cards were given to everyone who could have been affected by the hurricane, not just the people who stayed behind. if anything, we should argue that the dummies who stayed behind shouldn't get those cards, because we don't want to help such stupidity along.

Quote :

"I think the only problem that can be directly faulted here is that the city is below sea level."

well, that and an incompetent local gov't, and a slow response by the federal gov't. but lets not kid ourselves...

Quote :

"However, some people chose not to exit the city because of being stuck in traffic on the interstate during previous hurricanes. Just imagine the traffic that would result if everyone or say 90% of new orleans got in their cars and tried to drive out of the city at one time, going in one direction at one time. Rush hour traffic is no comparison to the chaos that would result. Does anyone have any stats to show how long it would take an entire city to empty itself by car?"

"Honey, lets get out here so we don't die when the hurricane hit!"
"Nah, the traffic will be hell. Lets stay here and die."
did you really just argue that someone might have said or thought ANYTHING along those lines?

Quote :

"I have a bigger problem with that then I do this. Heck, if I was a relative of the Oklahoma City bombing I'd be even more pissed. I don't understand why this country has such unbalanced knee-jerk responses to things. How is someone who lost a husband or wife in 9/11, the hurricane, etc. any worse off than someone who lost a husband or wife to a drunk driver, gang violence, or a shark attack. Or why losing a house from Katrina is any worse than losing your house from an earthquake, wildfirem or arson. I don't understand why we throw compensation at some and not others. Treat people the same, vote Libertarian, and drink Kool-Aid."

ON FUCKING POINT.

9/21/2005 9:45:01 PM

Quote :

""Honey, lets get out here so we don't die when the hurricane hit!" "Nah, the traffic will be hell. Lets stay here and die." did you really just argue that someone might have said or thought ANYTHING along those lines?"

No, I was just trying to point out several different reasons why people might not have left.

And yes, I watched interviews with several people that did not leave because during a previous hurricane, they were stuck in traffic on the interstate and rode out the hurricane in a ditch or their cars. I think most people, not realizing of the flood danger would pick their house over a car.

9/21/2005 10:09:26 PM

I've never seen a good boob job for only $2000. Those people will be easy to spot.

9/21/2005 10:22:06 PM

Quote :

"No, I was just trying to point out several different reasons why people might not have left. "

THEN THOSE PEOPLE DESERVE TO DIE FOR BEING DUMBER THAN A FUCKING STICK. When you are fucking 20 feet below sea-level and a big ass hurricane is coming your way, traffic should be the LEAST of your fucking concerns.

9/23/2005 8:33:26 PM

those debit cards were just as dumb of an idea as this thread.

9/23/2005 8:38:28 PM

Didn't you ever stop and consider that the breast implants were an investment in the career of a stripper?

Smart business move.

9/23/2005 8:51:46 PM

so, are we allowed to pick on those retard old people that crammed a shit ton of oxygen in a vehicle that wasn't designed for such?

or is that in bad taste?

because i know its been decided we can mock the people who lost everything in new orleans, because they stayed, but i'm just wondering if we can mock the infertile and senile clumps of burnination

because the more i think about it, the funnier it is

i mean, really, think of how old people smell normally, and then add fire

its comical

9/23/2005 8:52:50 PM

congrats to the people that had the good sense to get out of the World Trade Center

they're way smarter than those dumbasses that decided to stay
getting out was the best decision

you know, by jumping

9/24/2005 6:16:55 PM

ahjahhahahahhahahaha

snewf for the win

9/24/2005 6:51:42 PM