floodgate.blog

As I drive close to 30 miles to and from school every day, I am afforded the opportunity to think while I groove to “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” coasting along I-40. I started thinking about 9-11 this morning, and how those people who crashed the planes were completely insane, and I hate them. Then I asked myself if I hated them because they did something directly to me, or if I was just mad because they were bad people. That really got me thinking about a lot of things. For instance, aside from the handful of militant “Al Qaeda” individuals (I decided to leave off any religious or racial quantifier here, and you will understand shortly why I did this), the people of that region are probably like me — wondering what the big ordeal is all about.

I watched the second plane hit, and the first tower fall on the first floor of Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech, as I was eating breakfast and on my way to my Radio Electronics Lab that morning. What these “madmen” did was terrible. But they didn’t do it to me. I’m sure many of you reading this will jump up and down, calling me every name you can think of, and that is your right. But, did they do anything to you personally? Some of you can definitely answer yes to this question. Some of you will say “Of course they did” but if you thought about it, you’d realize you were wrong. If you’ve visited NYC, and say it directly impacted you, then you’re wrong. If you once lived in NYC and now you don’t, and no family or friends were among the dead, then you are wrong. Indirectly, this affected everyone. I cannot deny this.

There are probably thousands, maybe millions, of people who many of you would call “the enemy”. Those people who fight to survive, to hold jobs, to feed their families, and the only reason you are juding them is by the color of their skin or their praise for Allah because you just aren’t that way. And I’ll bet that those people think the same way about us as many of us think about them. “Those asshole American’s policing the world”… and they are correct. The US is a bit of a brat like that, and lord knows I could write a book about everything I had to “accept” before I naturalized. BUT, is it justified? Did some American drop on their rooftop and slap them across the face and call them a terrorist?

The Government is definitely “directly” impacted, as it was an attack on their country, or their country causing problems around the world. And as such, they get to clean up the mess, by putting the country more into debt. Many people are so “affected” by the recent hurricanes. If you’ve ever been to Mardi Gras, or if you’re a Hokie fan and have been to the sugar bowl, you are not directly affected. If you have family that were displaced, killed, or otherwise, then sure, you’ve got that right. And the Government will clean up the mess, and put our children in debt for it.

Now, let’s talk about those hurricanes. No, not those orange and green bastards to always give me a heart attack sometime in late November every year, but the storms themselves. Look how devastating they were. Katrina wiped out a major city. Clearly this is a sign that mother nature always wins (did we really need more proof?). But, the majority of New Orleans is BUILT BELOW SEA LEVEL. They pretty much have a nice big red target painted on their city as “Hey, Hurricane! Some visit our down, cause it’s been a while since we’ve gone swimming!” It sounds ridiculous when you read it, doesn’t it? But you know that it’s true. It’s like making out with a leper. You know what’s going to happen next. It was a terrible tragedy what happened down there, but excuse my bluntness… it’s their own fucking fault. Aside from the mayor and governor completely missing the ball on evacuating (and both should be jailed for life IMO for incompetence), just the fact that there are people who CHOSE to live in that area… it’s your own fault that your house is floating down the western Florida coastline now. I know this seems VERY angry, and believe me, it’s somewhat misleading. There are many who simply could not get out. I’ll be the first to recognize the level of poverty and lower income of families in the general area (including the coastal towns to the east), and for them, I say “I’m sorry your elected representatives didn’t do their job, but you elected them, so suck it up.”

There is this ONE representative from Louisiana that I keep seeing on TV… darker skinned, but speaks perfect english with no accent. At some point I’ll remember his name. He is a Republican who ran against the current governor in the last race in LA. His view on things was so objective (even the first day I saw him, which was the day after Katrina), and not poiting fingers, but VERY concerned with “how to we get it fixed quickly”. I admire people like that. This man is pretty much stuck with explaining to his voters that he is doing all he can to cut out the bureaucracy so that things “might” restore to normal in the next decade. I don’t envy his job, but definitely am proud to see someone atleast trying.

The twin towers, pentagon, katrina, and rita, don’t affect me. Not directly. They are unfortunate events, but people, PLEASE, don’t go around talking like “Katrina is the reason that my father walked out last year” or such other nonsense. Blah blah blah… go talk to someone at CNN if you want. Cry your little hearts out to them, cause you know they will show it for the world to see. Hope it makes you feel better.

~d~

Note: Those opinions that were or were not expressed are those or not those of the author or someone else.

NOTE: If you take personal offense to anything in here, that is not my intention. Just observation and reflection.

I haven’t really said much of anything (both on here and in person) about my feelings and stance about the whole Katrina mess that our southern neighbors are forced to endure. Having lived through Hurricane Isabel in 2002 (granted, it wasn’t as strong, and when it got up to where I lived, I think at best it was a cat 1 storm… but 80 miles west of where i lived), I know how much it sucks to simply lose power and water. I remember driving around the day after that storm (consequently, the day before I was to move to NC…). I never lost power, never lost water, etc. I was able to watch the hurricane unfold on local TV, via the internet, etc, so to me the damage couldn’t have been that bad. I drove down to the ocean (about 5 miles away) to take a look at the boardwalk of Virgini Beach, and all the store-fronts, hotels, and restaurants. It was a mess. The storm was weakening, and far away, and still it was able to blow out windows, rip down parts of roof-tops, etc.

I guess I can now say that Isabel was nothing compared to the chaos going on in the bayou. I find myself drawn to the television to see “what’s next” for everyone down there. It got to a point where I found myself ignoring most news and broadcast channels, looking to ESPN and Comedy Central for some distraction.

I’ve had enough time to process all the information, and come to see a few things that went wrong, and a few that went right.

Wrong: New Orleans Mayor is a dumbass. I’ve never seen someone as naive and stubborn in my life. The fact that FEMA was deployed before mandatory evacuations were ordered is a clear sign that you’re hanging on too tight. It took a call from the NHC and President Bush to convince him that his city would be erased.
Wrong: I have no patience for anyone who is passing judgement and/or blame. I saw an interview with a Louisiana House Rep, where he was disgusted with the red tape and logistical nightmares for things as simple as “i have a helicopter, i have supplies, can i bring them?” and the answer being NO?!? He brought up a good point about how some of those rules need to be broken to expedite the process, but the levels of bureaucracy are obviously not allowing this. If you’re a flaming liberal and it makes you feel better to blame Bush, go right ahead. His only fault in this one is that he acted BEFORE he was supposed to, and SHAME ON HIM, right?
Wrong: People playing the race card. I think you should change that to “playing the economy card”. The people who had money and means to get out… well… they did. And those who couldn’t do that, well, their city abandoned them by not providing adequate evacuation plans. I saw footage of a parking lot full of school busses, all parked in a row. Why weren’t they used to bus people out? On television, I’ll admit, 90% or more of those who are interviewed as “hurricane victims” are black. And it looks BAD. I don’t want something like a racial stereotype clouding larger issues.
Right: The good-will of the American People. I’m always amazed that in times of tragedy, the people of this country rally with volunteer efforts, money, supplies, and with this specific storm, opening up their homes to those who lost everything. I wish I was able to help. One day, I will be able to, and will help as best as I can.
Right: The good-will of the world. I had to laugh a little bit when I read that Cuba was offering assistance to the United States. I suppose that it’s not really funny, but an eye-opener. Ideologies, political viewpoints, and past indiscretions, seem to have fallen to the side. Over 50 nations pledging support, either with funding, man-power, or supplies, or all of the above. Awesome. I watched Kofi Annan’s speech, and when he mentioned how American’s are the most generous, and have helped everyone else in their times of need… kind of made me proud that I became a citizen a few years ago. Despite all the negative connotation that “I am an American” carries around the world, it’s nice to see that some good comes from our benevolence.

I guess I don’t have much else to say. I don’t really promise my ramblings to be coherent, and perhaps at times inaccurate. I hear reports that 10’s of 1000’s might be dead after this. It’s upsetting, but an eye-opener to everyone. Those horrible things in the south pacific, in the middle east… they can all happen here too.

~d~