Bud Talkinghorn: The sad saga of Katrina & A suggestion from NJC, Toronto's mayor playing Russian roulette

The sad saga of Katrina

Lt. General Honore has taken command of the chaotic situation in New Orleans. This is a step that should have taken back on Tuesday. There is a 20% of the city that never flooded, which could have used as a staging area for control of the downtown and the flooded suburbs. Using amphibious craft and zodiac boats they could been plucking thousands of stranded people off roofs, while curtailing the gangsters' rampage. The present slow response should see some heads roll. The lack of communication and preparation was completely unacceptable. As most of the victims were black and poor, the accusations of racism will be leveled. Also, in allowing the black criminal class free rein, there will be a lasting negative image of their race. President Bush's falling support over the Iraq war, will now be exacerbated by this shoddy rescue mission. Already the Democrats and the left in general have seized on this issue, and they won't let go anytime soon.

Perhaps the sorriest part of this aftermath is that FEMA actually did a major study of what would happen if imaginary Hurricane "Pam" hit New Orleans. Particular attention was paid to the possibilities of the levees collapsing. Yet only months after this pertinent exercise, the ability to put the lessons learned into practice have failed miserably. The authorities had three days notice to remove the carless poor, but did nothing The results were a breakdown in security and people left in filth and starving, to boot. Almost all the people finally removed from the Superdome and the Convention Center stated they would never return to their beloved city. New Orleans might become America's largest ghost town. Disgraceful!

© Bud Talkinghorn




Poverty, Choices and a Tentative Suggestion NJC

I beg to differ a bit, Bud. First, negative news gets reported while feel-good stories don't. I think all of us should wait to find out or simply forget it for now; stop blaming and realize that the scale of the disaster did NOT hit most of us in time for fast response. It took TV images and news articles to get us to understand the scale and the need.

The accusations of racism are going to be made anyway; it is part of the race industry and this is a perfect opportunity to spread some guilt. At the risk of being accused of blaming the victims, I think also people forget that the poor are often poor because:

* They have little they own to protect (e.g. public housing which they often trash -- It belongs to someone else; there is no incentive to take care of it.)

* Social services and welfare rates do not lend themselves to recipients being able to set anything aside for the future -- whether self-improvement or natural disaster.

* Many poor already live on other people's money so they develop a mindset which leads them to expect others to take care of them instead of taking care of themselves which requires making the hard decisions about whether they can afford to have children or more children -- whether it is wise to have a child with that guy who has already left someone else with children, whether they should leave to save their lives rather than stay to save what is probably a pitifully small collections of the usual household junk. One of the hazards of accepting charity / social services is a loss of independence requiring one to think and make choices.

* Poverty is cyclical and children learn from their parents; the same bad choices are passed down to the children who do not think ahead. The cycle is more likely to be broken if society does not encourage it, to begin with, and if society actively intervenes so as to encourage more thought into the implications of choices on those concerned -- perhaps by rewards tied to making sensible choices for the social services and welfare cheque. Just handing out money, housing, etc. will not do it.

* The whole system rewards people with just enough to survive but not enough to advance or to crawl out of the black hole that is poverty and the poverty industry does not teach people in this situation to look realistically at their lives and to make choices for the better. Who teaches families on welfare that it is cheaper to make/bake/grow their own than to buy ready-made anything and there is more nutrition in it also, that pop and chips have no nutritional value (so tax accordingly) to lead people to more nutritious choices, et cetera.

Enough; you get the idea.

Still, there is no question, problems arose from which all could learn. For now, media should concentrate on reporting some of the wonderful stories of people helping such as the individual with a home who took in a relative (distant) and it burgeoned to 40 or 50 people. Wonderful!

I don't doubt that there has been a failure of bureaucracy and more because of paperwork and authorization requirements. Also, many victims were too infirm to leave and many poor couldn''t or wouldn't leave even when told to because, according to Christie Blatchford or to Margaret Wente in the Globe today, many were waiting for their welfare cheques or their pay cheques. I suspect that it is not a matter of memorizing a PIN number and running. Poverty doesn't give many access to bank accounts. I believe banks do not court them, though banks are opening record high lines of credit for students, so I read in the Globe today, also. A medical student can now get a personal line of credit for $140,000-$150,000. Get them in debt while they're young. NJC

I have a suggestion: why not ship some of the children to a Canadian location (school such as a boarding school or other institution with beds) and let some of the young people here who have university degrees and want to work, teach them until their parents can get more permanent jobs and a place to live. Is that too much? Too ulnrealistic and idealistic? Harness our own under employed to work with them. We have retirees who might be energized by helping. So many of us would like to do something where we see we can be contributing. Or ship teachers down to help; is the red tape too daunting? I think it would be better to have the parents' greatest concern, their children, actively pursuing learning to take their minds off the problems and allow the parents some relief and even to plan.

Is that viable at all? If so leave a telephone number, email, and a message. NJC



Toronto's mayor is playing Russian roulette

Mayor Miller has again missed the mark when it comes to gun crime. Now he proposes to blitz legitimate fun stores with inspectors. What in heaven's name does he think this foolish exercise will accomplish? Add this latest to his absurd suggestion all all gun owners should store their weapons in a central repository. Even his earliest idea that gangsterism could be averted by more youth projects does not hold up. Yes, it might help a little, but it is up against some potent societal factors. The black neighbourhoods appear to have a pathological distrust of the police and some projects have become vitual drugstores. As in many black ghettoes of the U.S., there is admiration for the pimp and drug dealers. When a teenager sees the expensive car and clothes of these gangsters, he can't help but be impressed. Why work down at the local burger joint when you can make hundreds a day selling drugs? Instead of a revolving door justice system for these thugs, there should be hefty jail time handed out. [and hard work, I squeak. NJC] Let the message be that the former "Robin Hoods" are now only jailbirds. Unfortunately, Mayor Miller has that peculiar leftish bent that always puts his emphasis on "root causes". Money and a small army of social workers will not alleviate the problem as much as simply jailing gun criminals would. The juvenile justice system should be changed to reflect the danger of teen gunmen. With only three years given for murder, then reduced for "good behaviour". the penalties are seen as a joke. If something truly effective does happen soon, you might see the growth of gang size. The black gangs of the Bloods and the Crips have swollen to army-size in LA, and now control entire neighbourhoods. Don't let that scenario come to Toronto.

© Bud Talkinghorn


Bud you're more likely to be accused of hate crime than that the criminal gang thugs get more jail time. NJC

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