This kid a hero.  The copy writers at channel 5 might not know it, but just about everyone who read that story does. They’ll catch on when (and if) the authorities try to prosecute him.

In Bush country (and remember, Texas = Bush country squared), there ARE no disasters. Only temporary setbacks. And obviously, such small troubles do not justify committing theft!

Actually, it would be better if they tried to press charges. At least, then he’d eventually emerge a hero. This way, he may come out of it with a bad lesson.

am in houston.  and i’ve watched the news almost non-stop since this all began to unfold.

the channel 5 story is sensationalism and only barely accurate.

20 year old.  not 18 year old.  so even the most basic of facts is slightly off.

yes, they were denied entrance to the astrodome at first, because officials had promised to house superdome victims.  they were afraid if they admitted everyone, then they wouldn’t have the space they needed.  (which did turn out to be true) he wasn’t the only one denied entrance in the beginning.

thankfully, they had a change of heart and admitted him and his group. people try to play by the book, sometimes, and it just doesn’t work out that way, so they adjust.  they deserve credit for having the flexibility to do so. 

even the best planning never took into account houston’s receiving the amount of victims that it has.  we’re learning on the fly.  we’re adjusting where we need to.  and we’re doing the best we possibly can.  even here in “bush country”.

the entire “he could face charges” thing is bogus.  there is no one here that plans to arrest this kid.  you’ll note that it says, “he could *possibly* face charges”.  well, sure.  just like people caught on camera could *possibly* face charges for “looting” or “finding” food.  there are just absolutely no plans to charge him.

he IS a hero and we are well aware of that fact.

This is unbelievable...well, actually it’s not.  After everything I’ve seen this week, this makes perfect sense.  Our country is going to have to answer to THE biggest charge of racism since slavery when this is all said and done.  It is a disgrace.  It’s a shame that right after 9/11 we saw the best in people, and Katrina brought out the absolute worst. You get one young man that is trying to do some good and he’s in trouble for it?  Terrible.  Just terrible.

Now, DOF, no facts, please.

he IS a hero and we are well aware of that fact.

Of course you are. I was pretty sure that this story would in fact backfire in a more positive direction. But the copywriter, by using those terms, showed either uncaring attitude or outright hostility (’extreme act of looting’, ‘renegade’...)

Regardless, that comparison of AP captions really says it all…

Regardless, that comparison of AP captions really says it all…

The second is from AFP, not AP. Two different agencies, two different rules on how to state the facts, likely. Slightly similar to the fracas over insurgents/terrorists?

Whoops!
Sorry, it’s that baklava in the kitchen distracting me...right, that’s it.

Sorry, it’s that baklava in the kitchen distracting me...right, that’s it.

As a true kid of the web generation, I prefer to let food burn if it distracts me from the net

For food to burn, then one must be cooking. How do you cook? I saw pictures of a kitchen on the internet. 

http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/looters.asp

How weird. Someone with the same name as me posts the same Snopes URL I was going to…

American Leviathan is an interesting article about the way we’re viewing and reporting the aftermath of Katrina.

In response to the looting came expressions of outrage.  Someone identified as John F. Marretta offered this opinion to the letters page of the St. Pete Times:  “It figures the scum of the earth would be out looting in hurricane-devastated areas. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for stealing from somebody’s business if you are taking food and water. But if you are stealing designer clothing, jewelry or electronics you have no place in society. Police would have my full support if they were to shoot looters on sight. These types of human filth have no place among the civilized members of society.�?

At least Mr. Marretta is willing to distinguish between survival and criminality.  When Diane Sawyer offered that distinction to the president in an interview, he responded stoically that the police policy should be “zero tolerance�? for those who break the law.

But why don’t we have the same deep emotional response to the price gougers and profit mongers?  When the corporate CEOs rape and pillage the retirement funds of aging pensioners, we may want them in jail.  But we don’t line up the firing squad at the bottom of the courthouse steps when they descend wearing their thousand dollar suits.  Why does a slimeball from Enron get a pass from the same people who endorse shooting looters on sight?

Firstly, it should be obvious to any rational, non-coerced person that what this kid did was good. Of course, this countries news is tied and bound...so it never surprises me to see such pathetic reporting pass for news.

At least Mr. Marretta is willing to distinguish between survival and criminality.  When Diane Sawyer offered that distinction to the president in an interview, he responded stoically that the police policy should be “zero tolerance�? for those who break the law.

As to differentiating between “looting” for survival and “looting”, bush (and much of our government) is on the totalitarian corner of the 2D political diamond.

Both totalitarianism and socialism (liberals here in the U.S.) deny liberty (the rights of an individual) in favor of arbitrary law (totalitarianism) and the subserviance of the the individual to the majority (socialism).

But why don’t we have the same deep emotional response to the price gougers and profit mongers?

To answer this, one must define “we”. If “we” is the government, then the answer is once again due to where the government stands politically, with help from a controlled media.

However, price gouging only exists because we do not have a free market. We have a hybrid market (free market hosed up by subsidies, sponsored abusive monopolies, etc). Realistically, gas prices should be _much_ higher than they are. They are only as low as they are due to government interferance. When the market finally corrects despite this interference, people will be shocked here in the U.S.

When the corporate CEOs rape and pillage the retirement funds of aging pensioners, we may want them in jail.  But we don’t line up the firing squad at the bottom of the courthouse steps when they descend wearing their thousand dollar suits.  Why does a slimeball from Enron get a pass from the same people who endorse shooting looters on sight?

Again, our government is socialist/authoritarian. They have stripped us of rights via misinformation concerning what a right actually is. Without rights, the government is more than happy to take the side of anyone who fleeces the “citizens” and pays some of the money towards the government.

You, myself, and everyone else that is a serf of the united states has no rights anymore but those allowed us via the aristocracy. We continue to buy their lies about the “evils of capitalism”, the need to “protect people from themselves”, the need to “pay for those who will not support themselves”, the need to “prevent harm to ourselves in order to protect society from liability”, the “right to a job”, etc.

These perversions of ideals and outright lies are causing the things we see in this relief effort.

On an upbeat note, at least some real issues are slipping into the news (if only slightly) now and again because of hurricane Katrina. It has been a while since I have seen even the evidence of real news in big media.

Again, our government is socialist/authoritarian.

You’re raping the word socialist. A socialist economy is supposed to redistribute wealth from top down (no matter what real communism may have done). This society is more concerned with enabling the flow in the opposite direction.

Calling that socialist is misrepresentation.

(no matter what real communism may have done).

You probably mean Stalinism.  Labels mean nothing is the object labeled doesn’t match.

If anybody disputes this I will have to change my name to Kevin Costner, so the wife will do highly intimate things to me.