Sunday, September 04, 2005

Armed 'Police' Take Over Hotel, Eject Guests. From an Associated Press report:Police came through commandeering drivable vehicles and siphoning gas. Officials took over a hotel and ejected the guests. An officer pumped his shotgun at a group trying to return to their hotel on Chartres Street. "This is our block," he said, pointing the gun down a side street. "Go that way."WWL-TV 4 of New Orleans showed a video of the confrontation. The "police" seemed official but didn't show badges. Some better news from this report: In the absence of information and outside assistance, groups of rich and poor banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor. As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim. While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity. "Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized." ... Tired of waiting for trucks to come with food and water, residents turned to each other. [Antiwar.com Blog] I'm glad that some people were able to take care of themselves instead of waiting for the government to take care of them. 10:10:38 PM    comment () Update. Sig and I went down to the street to head over to Baronne to check out some tenant housing the company owns and make sure the building is still secure. The water down Poydras has receded about one and 1/2 block as you head toward the Dome. Baronne street the water has receded to about 2 blocks down from Poydras as you head to Canal. Still very significant flooding that way and the water is absolutely nasty. The surface is a rust-covered gunk that is difficult to describe; luckily, Sig took some pictures. We saw some signs of looting and there was a car there which had been completely crushed under a wall of bricks which fell down from the 3rd floor of a now-exposed condo. Law enforcement have absolutely lost their minds. Some guy wearing khaki fatigues and black vests which say Police on them have their faces covered in black ski masks and are touting M4-A1s with front hand grips -- like they're some kind of Delta Force operators waiting to hit the tire room. They're guarding the four corners around the Bell South building for crying out loud. And what, they need secret identities? Come on. You can just tell some of these guys have never gotten out before. Now's their big chance to play Army. The police presence is growing and it consists of non-stop driving around the CBD. Dozens and dozens of cars just driving up one street and down the other. We're safe from civil unrest now, that much is certain. [The Interdictor] Clearly the author has never paid much attention to the police before. If I had a choice between a city full of poorly-armed and disorganized looters, and a city full of trigger-happy Gestapo, I'll take the former. I think I'd have a much better chance of survival. 3:49:39 PM    comment () The Cavalry can't get past FEMA. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish on Meet the Press:Sir, they were told like me. Every single day. The cavalry is coming. On the federal level. The cavalry is coming. The cavalry is coming. The cavalry is coming. I have just begun to hear the hooves of the cavalry. The cavalry is still not here yet, but I have begun to hear the hooves and were almost a week out. Three quick examples. We had Wal-mart deliver three trucks of water. Trailer trucks of water. Fema... [Antiwar.com Blog] The government is more interested in being in control than in saving people. This is hardly surprising. 1:48:20 PM    comment ()

© Copyright 2006 Ken Hagler. Last update: 2/15/2006; 2:06:19 PM.