Katrina, Human Realities and Evil.

An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State
by Robert Tracinski Sep 02, 2005

It took four long days for state and federal officials to figure out how to deal with the disaster in New Orleans. I can't blame them, because it also took me four long days to figure out what was going on there. The reason is that the events there make no sense if you think that we are confronting a natural disaster.
If this is just a natural disaster, the response for public officials is obvious: you bring in food, water, and doctors; you send transportation to evacuate refugees to temporary shelters; you send engineers to stop the flooding and rebuild the city's infrastructure. For journalists, natural disasters also have a familiar pattern: the heroism of ordinary people pulling together to survive; the hard work and dedication of doctors, nurses, and rescue workers; the steps being taken to clean up and rebuild.
Public officials did not expect that the first thing they would have to do is to send thousands of armed troops in armored vehicle, as if they are suppressing an enemy insurgency. And journalists—myself included—did not expect that the story would not be about rain, wind, and flooding, but about rape, murder, and looting.
But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.
The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response by federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by Hurricane Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television channel has gotten the story wrong.
The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not happen over four days last week. It happened over the past four decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.
The man-made disaster is the welfare state.
For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to behave in an emergency—indeed, they were not behaving as they have behaved in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.
When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).
So what explains the chaos in New Orleans?
To give you an idea of the magnitude of what is going on, here is a description from a Washington Times story:
"Storm victims are raped and beaten; fights erupt with flying fists, knives and guns; fires are breaking out; corpses litter the streets; and police and rescue helicopters are repeatedly fired on.
"The plea from Mayor C. Ray Nagin came even as National Guardsmen poured in to restore order and stop the looting, carjackings and gunfire....
"Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with shoot-to-kill orders.
" 'These troops are...under my orders to restore order in the streets,' she said. 'They have M-16s, and they are locked and loaded. These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will.' "
The reference to Iraq is eerie. The photo that accompanies this article shows a SWAT team with rifles and armored vests riding on an armored vehicle through trash-strewn streets lined by a rabble of squalid, listless people, one of whom appears to be yelling at them. It looks exactly like a scene from Sadr City in Baghdad.
What explains bands of thugs using a natural disaster as an excuse for an orgy of looting, armed robbery, and rape? What causes unruly mobs to storm the very buses that have arrived to evacuate them, causing the drivers to speed away, frightened for their lives? What causes people to attack the doctors trying to treat patients at the Superdome?
Why are people responding to natural destruction by causing further destruction? Why are they attacking the people who are trying to help them?
My wife, Sherri, figured it out first, and she figured it out on a sense-of-life level. While watching the coverage one night on Fox News Channel, she told me that she was getting a familiar feeling. She studied architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, which is located in the South Side of Chicago just blocks away from the Robert Taylor Homes, one of the largest high-rise public housing projects in America. "The projects," as they were known, were infamous for uncontrollable crime and irremediable squalor. (They have since, mercifully, been demolished.)
What Sherri was getting from last night's television coverage was a whiff of the sense of life of "the projects." Then the "crawl"—the informational phrases flashed at the bottom of the screen on most news channels—gave some vital statistics to confirm this sense: 75% of the residents of New Orleans had already evacuated before the hurricane, and of those who remained, a large number were from the city's public housing projects. Jack Wakeland then told me that early reports from CNN and Fox indicated that the city had no plan for evacuating all of the prisoners in the city's jails—so they just let many of them loose. [Update: I have been searching for news reports on this last story, but I have not been able to confirm it. Instead, I have found numerous reports about the collapse of the corrupt and incompetent New Orleans Police Department; see here and here.]
There is no doubt a significant overlap between these two populations--that is, a large number of people in the jails used to live in the housing projects, and vice versa.
There were many decent, innocent people trapped in New Orleans when the deluge hit—but they were trapped alongside large numbers of people from two groups: criminals—and wards of the welfare state, people selected, over decades, for their lack of initiative and self-induced helplessness. The welfare wards were a mass of sheep—on whom the incompetent administration of New Orleans unleashed a pack of wolves.
All of this is related, incidentally, to the incompetence of the city government, which failed to plan for a total evacuation of the city, despite the knowledge that this might be necessary. In a city corrupted by the welfare state, the job of city officials is to ensure the flow of handouts to welfare recipients and patronage to political supporters—not to ensure a lawful, orderly evacuation in case of emergency.
No one has really reported this story, as far as I can tell. In fact, some are already actively distorting it, blaming President Bush, for example, for failing to personally ensure that the Mayor of New Orleans had drafted an adequate evacuation plan. The worst example is an execrable piece from the Toronto Globe and Mail, by a supercilious Canadian who blames the chaos on American "individualism." But the truth is precisely the opposite: the chaos was caused by a system that was the exact opposite of individualism.
What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state. What we consider "normal" behavior in an emergency is behavior that is normal for people who have values and take the responsibility to pursue and protect them. People with values respond to a disaster by fighting against it and doing whatever it takes to overcome the difficulties they face. They don't sit around and complain that the government hasn't taken care of them. And they don't use the chaos of a disaster as an opportunity to prey on their fellow men.
But what about criminals and welfare parasites? Do they worry about saving their houses and property? They don't, because they don't own anything. Do they worry about what is going to happen to their businesses or how they are going to make a living? They never worried about those things before. Do they worry about crime and looting? But living off of stolen wealth is a way of life for them.
People living in piles of their own trash, while petulantly complaining that other people aren't doing enough to take care of them and then shooting at those who come to rescue them—this is not just a description of the chaos at the Superdome. It is a perfect summary of the 40-year history of the welfare state and its public housing projects.
The welfare state—and the brutish, uncivilized mentality it sustains and encourages—is the man-made disaster that explains the moral ugliness that has swamped New Orleans. And that is the story that no one is reporting.
Source: TIA Daily -- September 2, 2005

"No abounding of material prosperity shall avail us if our spiritual senses atrophy. The foes of our own household will surely prevail against us unless there be in our people an inner life which finds its outer expression in a morality like unto that preached by the seers and prophets of God when the grandeur that was Greece and the glory that was Rome still lay in the future." —Theodore Roosevelt

Sometimes they get it right: "The fact remains that this was a cataclysmic, epic natural disaster and great suffering was unavoidable. The time to figure out what went wrong and perhaps assign blame is not now. It will come soon enough and then it won't end. Those who are pushing agendas of accusation now are mostly doing so from self-interest or sanctimony. America has developed a bad habit of insisting that when bad things happen to people, someone must pay, someone must be to blame. It's the spirit of litigation and too many of our politicians, like ambulance chasers, are preying on it. It's embarrassing. Most people thought 9/11 would bring the country together and ease the so-called culture wars. It may have for some, but certainly not for the politically engaged. And so it will be with Katrina"—Dick Meyer, editorial director of CBSNews.com

"Political and economic freedoms are not guarantees of getting the particular outcomes we want. Economic liberty doesn't mean the right to succeed in business, only the right to try. And economic freedom certainly doesn't mean that we are entitled to have the job we want, at the wages we want, whether or not we show up for work. Implicit in the notion of economic freedom is the individual's responsibility to play by the rules of the marketplace. We don't think of political freedom as the right to have our preferred candidates always win elections, only that they have a right to compete in any election. It simply can't be that I am unfree if my candidate doesn't win, or if my policies are not enacted. Losing an election does not make me unfree."—Jennifer Roback Morse




"An America that is militarily and economically strong is not enough. The world must see an America that is morally strong with a creed and a vision. This is what has led us to dare and achieve. For us, values counts."—Ronald Reagan

"We are now reaping the benefits of a welfare state. For more years than most can remember, we have been told by those holding office that they will take care of us. We have provided food, clothing and shelter to the extent that the recipients became entirely dependent on government resources to live. They have reached the point that no longer do they have the knowledge to take care of themselves. They will sit there and drown or go hungry, and curse the fact that the government has not gotten them out of this mess. When it is all said and done, there is but one person who is responsible for me, and that is me. The responsibility falls to me to take care of my family, not the government. Society, not government, has an obligation to provide care and sustenance to those who, because of age or physical impairment cannot take care of themselves, but able-bodied people who stand around and complain that no one is doing anything for them deserve whatever the fates cast in their direction. Life is hard, and you either get tougher or you get washed away—it is as simple as that. Politicians will never, ever take care of you—they only want one thing from you, and that is to stay in power as long as they can. In a situation like Katrina, they will stand in front of the cameras and microphones and denigrate everyone above them in government to take the eye off of their pathetic efforts. This is a situation that they have created, and now the good citizens of the area will have to step in and clean up the mess that has been created by the politicians. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen—there are too many good people who live in that area for it not to happen. I love the people of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes, but I despise the politicians... I just hope that when the area is rebuilt, they stay away from the massive welfare system they had before—absolutely no good comes from welfare. It depletes available resources, making it ever more difficult for what passes as government to respond to the true needs of the community."—Robert Johnson, retired NOPD captain

Whatever the shortcomings of the federal response to Katrina—and there were many—the fact is that the plight of the abandoned poor in New Orleans says far more about that city and the state of Louisiana than about America generally. The city had evacuation plans it failed to follow even as local leaders warned that their worst fears were coming true. They did not ask for help in a timely fashion, and then they immediately blamed the feds when they didn't get the immediate help they didn't immediately ask for."—Jonah Goldberg

The downpour of Hurricane Katrina brought with it a scourge of sickness, homelessness, injury and death. But the aftermath of Katrina has wrought its own special plague—a celebrity hurricane of opportunism and bad taste. While most of America is embracing New Orleans' tragedy as a chance to pull together and demonstrate a still-strong Christian character of caring for the least of these, Hollywood is embracing it as an opportunity to display their foolishness, egotism and utter lack of sensitivity... Once, Jane Fonda's involvement in Vietnam stood out to Americans as a shameful anomaly. Today, there is no national event, whether tragic or triumphant, into which a horde of entertainers do not see fit to insert themselves. It would be one thing if actors and musicians would show up with a bit of humility and pass out water, food, and clothing—not to mention some funds from their ample bank accounts—to needy citizens. If they did this (and a few do) Americans would welcome them in the spirit of brotherly love and patriotic pride. Instead, most of them show up with camera crews (as Sean Penn did in his failed 'rescue' trip to New Orleans) and attitudes of privilege. Their hubris is revolting."—Megan Basham

"The Constitution grants life tenure to federal judges, and [Chief Justice William] Rehnquist was under no legal obligation to step down because of illness—not even an incurable cancer that was visibly robbing him of his strength. But there is growing support, both public and academic, for abolishing life tenure on the high court, and cases like Rehnquist's are part of the reason why. As life expectancy has grown, and as the Supreme Court has become ever more powerful, justices are staying in office much longer than they used to... There are other problems with life tenure: Little or no democratic accountability. Bitter confirmation battles, since the stakes—a justice who may hold office for 25 or more years—are so high. Falling productivity, with today's geriatric court generating only half as many full opinions as the court did two or three decades ago (even though the justices hire twice as many law clerks). Remoteness from the workings of the real world, including the judicial system over which they preside... An AP poll last year found 60 percent support for ending lifetime tenure—with people older than 65 most likely to favor mandatory retirement. Past attempts to limit Supreme Court terms have fizzled, but in a post-Rehnquist era, the winds may shift."—Jeff Jacoby

"Politicians and the media are furious about price increases in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They want gas stations and water sellers punished. If you want to score points cracking down on mean, greedy profiteers, pushing anti-'gouging' rules is a very good thing. But if you're one of the people the law 'protects' from 'price gouging,' you won't fare as well... Any number of services—roofing, for example, carpentry, or tree removal—are in overwhelming demand after a disaster. When the time comes to rebuild New Orleans, it's safe to predict a shortage of local carpenters: The city's own population of carpenters won't be enough. If this were a totalitarian country, the government might just order a bunch of tradesmen to go to New Orleans. But in a free society, those tradesmen must be persuaded to leave their homes and families, leave their employers and customers, and drive from say, Wisconsin, to take work in New Orleans. If they can't make more money in Louisiana than Wisconsin, why would they make the trip? Some may be motivated by a desire to be heroic, but we can't expect enough heroes to fill the need, week after week; most will travel there for the same reason most Americans go to work: to make money. Any tradesman who treks to a disaster area must get higher pay than he would get in his hometown, or he won't do the trek. Limit him to what his New Orleans colleagues charged before the storm, and even a would-be hero may say, 'the heck with it.' If he charges enough to justify his venture, he's likely to be condemned morally or legally by the very people he's trying to help. But they just don't understand basic economics. Force prices down, and you keep suppliers out. Let the market work, suppliers come—and competition brings prices as low as the challenges of the disaster allow. Goods that were in short supply become available, even to the poor. It's the price 'gougers' who bring the water, ship the gasoline, fix the roof, and rebuild the cities. The price 'gougers' save lives."—John Stossel

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"So Junior Sen. Hillary Clinton and House Mini Leader Nancy Pelosi say they want a commission to investigate what went wrong in New Orleans—in other words, an open and extended forum to blame Republicans. Last week, Republicans proposed a review board for this purpose and Democrats balked. Pelosi now says Democrats should boycott this review, and claims it will lead to a whitewash of the facts. I guess that, as more facts are now becoming available, Pelosi and Clinton are less anxious for a review."—Albany, New York
Editor's Reply: Democrats don't really want anyone looking that closely at the Demo machinations in the Big Easy. As Patriot No. 05-36 noted Friday, "Indeed, Democrats may get their 'inquisition commission,' hoping for colorful headlines trumpeting 'Republican failures' in the upcoming election year, but they had best take care what they ask for, lest they get it. Inquiring too deeply into factual communication, material distribution and evacuation failures after Katrina will likely yield answers that sink Louisiana Democrats—from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to Governor Kathleen Blanco. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who diverted Corps of Engineer funding from NOLA levees to her pet projects, just might need to pack her bags." Republicans called Pelosi's bluff, but you have to hand it to her, the "boycott protest" tactic is a clever dodge. Fact is, Republicans should go on the offensive now, and insist on a review. Let the Demos wiggle out of this one.
"'Natural Disaster'? Natural: for all but New Orleans. N.O. was a man-made disaster. For generations, state and local governments continued to develop the area around New Orleans—below sea level development—against the advice of the Corp of Enginieers. They ignored the possibilities and embraced the long odds of a Cat 4+ hurricane. They gambled and lost—and while the politicians are trying to tie losses to the Bush administration (how ludicrous), the real losers are those folks who trusted Louisiana government to protect them from catastrophic disaster—the result of catastrophic ignorance."—Biloxi, Mississippi
"What was up with Geraldo? Last week, pacing back and forth in front of the convention center like a caged animal—crazy talking and screaming at Bill O'Reilly, he almost single-handedly started a riot at that location."—Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Editor's Reply: Geraldo (AKA Jerry Rivers before his makeover), like Bill O'Reilly, is nothing but an infotainer. The fact that Fox gives these phony charlatans any airtime greatly undermines that networks integrity. Geraldo was probably upset because the mirror in his media trailer was much too small.
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THE CHRISTIAN WARRIOR
Suarez International is dedicated to His service, and this section exists to glorify His name and to provide encouragement to our brothers-in-arms that serve Him as Christian Warriors. We believe that God gave us courage and called us to the profession of arms, and that its His will that we be strong and dangerous in the face of evil and the sons of perdition that walk this earth.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was ruled unconstitutional Wednesday by a federal judge who granted legal standing to two families represented by an atheist who lost his previous battle before the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."
Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.
The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of.
Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karlton said those families have the right to sue.
Karlton, ruling in Sacramento, said he would sign a restraining order preventing the recitation of the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts, where the plaintiffs' children attend.
The decision sets up another showdown over the pledge in schools.
Well, as if to say, "What else!", this judge has decreed what he has decreed. This opens up some interesting points. 1). Why would one pledge anything to a God-less nation?2). What are Christians to do about this?
In Warrior Talk's Christian Warrior Forum, we touched on the doctrine of unconditional submission. Or simply put, the idea professed by some theologians that God requires us to submit unconditionally to the governing powers. There is no evidence such a doctrine is, in fact, biblical.
What exactly does that unbiblical doctrine mean. Many Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that they would ever have to resist by force of arms, but that may be what is needed in some situations. Rom 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.
Powers ordained by God are interpreted by some to refer to many different positions. For example, a man has dominion over his family, a Pastor over the Church, etc. Others consider this to mean "Government". Both are correct to a point. That point is that leaders and higher authorities are emplaced by God (or allowed by God) to protect and promote God's law. When they cease to do this, they are no longer of God.
Don't believe it? Consider Hitler. Would you have submitted? Not I. Consider as minimal as King George's taxes were (in today's context), how those who founded this nation saw it necessary to revolt. Had several American Patriots not resisted we would not now be a nation.
God also allows evil men to come to power as chastisement. Insofar as these men do not trample the word of God, or make it illegal, we can continue under their governance. The moment they compel you by force (how else does ANY government get people to obey their ungodly laws?) to deny the faith and compel you to do things contrary to God's will, the submission role is over and the sword comes out to play.
Anyone who wishes to debate the error (biblically speaking) of the doctrine of Unconditional Submission To Government, I welcome the discussion on Warrior Talk.
As unpopular a view as it may be to some, I must point out the dilution of our culture by those of contrary cultures who would eliminate God and Christ from our lives. I do not want to live near, nor be friends with, nor do business with, nor pledge anything to those who are against our freedom, who are liberal socialists, or who would stand in my way to worship God. Am I intolerant? Yes, you betcha!
WE will continue to say "Under God" when we pledge allegiance to this flag and this nation, because its submission to God and not any earthly king is what makes it great and why all the peoples of the earth wish to live here. So will my children at their schools and if anyone objects, I will bring all the power of my resources to bear on bankrupting them. That is as much our duty…to preserve this nation's Christian heritage, as it is to do any of the other things on our list.
The day will come when you will be persecuted for your faith. Think about it. Secular society wants you to think that you can have Adam and Steve get married and walk hand in hand down Main Street, but that its against the law to say UNDER GOD?
That third world throw back women can wrap diapers around their head because some illiterate man in the desert said its their right but we can't say UNDER GOD?
I think not! The issue is not about the history or who wrote it or whatever. The issue is that some liberal POS wants to use our silly courts to change our nation and society from one in which our laws and way of life are heavily influenced by God's word to one where they are not. THAT is the issue and not the pledge.
Look at all that has gone bad with the nation in the last 25 years. It can all be traced to moral relativism and the exclusion of the study of history. Had we not done that we'd be a much better nation.
Want to truly destroy the USA? Give bin ladin a break and get rid of God altogether ... then see how long we last.
The day that any government seeks to prevent us from following or living God's word, it stops being appointed by God. It is no longer an entity we need to submit to, nor swear any allegiance to, but rather resist with all force and power as it would have become evil.
It all depends on where you draw the line. Draw it now so that you won't waffle your principles and faith when the test comes.

FROM GABE SUAREZhttp://www.suarezinternational.com/

LESSONS FROM NEW ORLEANS

It's common knowledge that early this month the Louisiana city of New Orleans suffered one of the most devastating natural disasters of our time. The plain facts are that the magnitude of the disaster was exacerbated by the ineptitude of local government and poor planning for something they knew was inevitable.

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 taught this nation a few things. New Orleans is doing the same. Let us pay attention as another new paradigm is being set. Only an idiot would submit to a hijacker these days. And I think the message is that in a natural disaster...or any disaster, you are on your own despite any official's promises to the contrary, or anyone s laws intended to insure good behavior.

Moreover, this is a failure of liberal local government, because although we have a conservative president, the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana are both dyed-in-the wool liberals. It was their unpreparedness that made things worse. On the way to Colorado today I listened to radio stations playing liberal speeches blaming GW Bush for the Hurricane. Some of these fools I suspect actually believe this. If the President was to be in charge of every town in every state why would we need local governments at all?

Blame is what men do to make themselves feel better in their current situation. In this case no one can be blamed for the event...the hurricane...as we could blame the jihadjis for the Twin Towers. In this case it was nature. The German's ludicrous idea that we caused it by driving SUVs is so stupid as to cause one to stop shooting HK weapons to teach them a lesson. American's habits no more cause weather changes than German beer caused Hitler.

And Canada... well, nuff said about them. I wonder what they'd say if we simply stopped doing business with them at all?

Mark my words - This event is yet another culture-changing note in US history. And a wake up to the "Call 911 Generation" that in such an event we are all on our own. Those who are prepared to do what it takes in mind and equipment will do much better than those who are not. Its not about nice and law-abiding, and fair, its about staying alive.

Lessons thus far:
1). People are inherently evil. It is only upbringing, faith, and honor which keeps us from reverting to Neanderthal ways. Since our nation has seen fit to discard teaching such things it should be no surprise that everything breaks down immediately and we are back to the law of the battlefield where the strongest take what they wish. Don't believe me? I have a very recent example to point you to. Some of our students and friends are over there right now. Their after-actions will tell us a great deal more than CNN.

2). Knowing item 1, Never, never, never, regardless of what anyone tells you, never be without a weapon. If you have a weapon, you will probably not be raped or killed. If you have a weapon, you will be able to obtain and keep anything you need to survive. Weaponless people are victims standing in line for the wolves. The next time someone tells me guns are bad, I may knock them out with an elbow smash to their face. Much of the blame for the deaths by violence and the rapes at the Superdome and other places in the city should fall squarely on the laps of the local liberal administration with their irresponsible No Weapons policies.

(see Luke 22:35-38 JF)


3). The ineptitude of government knows no bounds. Trust and rely on them at your peril. I was in Los Angeles during the riots, and later during the earthquake of '94. I have friends who were in New Orleans whose debriefing we will eventually be publishing here as well. Now hear this - In such an event, you truly are, except for God, on your own. Accept it. Adapt to it. Equip yourself and your family for it now! Anyone who tells you otherwise is living in fantasyland.

4). Staying or evacuating should be an intellectual decision, not an emotional one. No one in government can make you leave your home (If they try, see item two). But you should not stay because of material possessions. Anything you have can be replaced. Trust me on this.

If you stay, make sure you have food, water, and medical supplies for at least a month, and enough guns and ammo to kill anyone who wants to take it from you. If you leave, take only survival materials. An extra Camelback of water will help you more than uncle Joe's antique chess set. An extra pistol will be more useful to make sure you can keep that water than you high school yearbook.

Have a Stay Behind Kit (SBK) in the event you choose not to leave, a Vehicle Evacuation Kit (VEK) in the event you elect to evacuate, and a personal Bug Out Bag (BOB) that you can throw on your back and hoof it to safety if the vehicle becomes disabled. The SBK and VEK can be family kits, but each member should have their own BOB. And all able bodied adults (big kids too) should have a personal firearm and the skills to use it.

5). Have God on your side. With Him, nothing else can touch you. Believe me, when everything around you is going bad and failing, you will need much more than items 1-4. You'll need to pray for His protection and strength. It is not something to be ashamed of but rather something to take strength from.

Guns, ammo, water and food! And death to anyone who would deny them to you.

Pay attention as this will set the tone for American thought for a long time. The next time some slimy, commie, liberal politician scum-machine starts talking about gun bans and how the impotent authorities will protect you, just stick that pistol in its holster and tell em, "Remember New Orleans".

In Katrina I Didn't See Racism, I Saw Brotherhood

by Rabbi Aryeh Spero
Posted Sep 7, 2005
In New Orleans, beginning Tuesday morning, August 30, I saw men in helicopters risking their lives to save stranded flood victims from rooftops. The rescuers were White, the stranded Black. I saw Caucasians navigating their small, private boats in violent, swirling, toxic floodwaters to find fellow citizens trapped in their houses. Those they saved were Black. I saw Brotherhood. New York Congressman Charlie Rangel saw Racism.

Yes, there are Two Americas. One is the real America, where virtually every person I know sends money, food or clothes to those in need --now and in other crises -- regardless of color. This America is colorblind. The other is the America fantasized and manufactured by Charlie Rangel, Je$$e Jack$on(spelling mine,,JF) and Al $harpton(spelling mine,,JF) , who constantly cry "racism!" even in situations where it does not exist, even when undeniable images illustrate love, compassion and concern.

These three men, together with today's NAACP, want to continue the notion of Racist America. It is their Mantra, their calling card. Their power, money, and continued media appearances depend on it. Often, people caught up in accusing others of sin neglect to undergo their own personal introspection. They begin to think they alone inhabit the moral high ground. It is high time these men peered into their own hearts at the dark chamber that causes this unceasing labeling of their fellow Americans as "racist." They may find in that chamber their own racism against Whites.

There is only one real America. Beginning Friday morning in Houston, thousands of regular citizens poured into the Astrodome offering water, food, clean clothes, personal items, baby diapers and toys, love and even their homes to the evacuees who had been bused in from New Orleans. Most of the givers were White, most of those being helped were Black. But there was Je$$e Jack$on, busy on TV, accusing the country of not putting Blacks -- i.e., him -- on some type of Commission he is demanding. Where was he early in the week? Not sweating with others from around the country who had scraped their last dollar to come help. With Je$$e, it's always about Je$$e.

After decades of hearing accusations from Je$$e, Al, Charlie, the NAACP and certain elitists about how racist America is, it would have been refreshing to hear them for once give thanks to those they for years have been maligning. These self-anointed spokesmen for the Black community lead only when it comes to foisting guilt and condemnation, and not when it comes to acknowledging the good in those they have made a career in castigating.

As a Rabbi I have a message I wish to offer to my fellow members of the cloth, Reverends Jack$on and $harpton: It is time to do some soul searching. Your continued efforts to tear this country apart, even in light of the monumental goodness shown by your White brothers, is a sin. There are no churches in the world like the American churches. And there are no better parishioners and members of churches anywhere in the world. These churches are saving the day. Their members -- infused by the special and singular teachings of our unique American Judeo-Christian understanding of the Bible -- are, at this moment, writing an historic chapter in giving, initiative, and selflessness. They are opening their homes to strangers. They are doing what government is incapable of doing.

America works because of its faith-based institutions. It always has. That is what makes it America. So next time the ACLU tries to diminish and marginalize the churches, saying there is no role for religion in American public life, that an impenetrable wall must be erected separating the citizens from their faith, cry out "Katrina."

Next time the ACLU goes to court asking that U.S. soldiers not be allowed to say Grace in the Mess Hall and that communities be forbidden from setting up a nativity scene, ask yourself: without the motivation of Goodness sourced in Faith, would people offer such sacrifice? Where else does this Brotherhood come from but the Bible which teaches "Thou Shall Love Thy Neighbor as Yourself."

I saw brotherhood on Fox News, where 24/7 reporters used their perch as a clearing-house for search-and-rescue missions and communication between the stranded and those in position to save. In contrast, the Old-line networks continued with their usual foolish, brain-numbing programming.

Those who always preach "compassion" chose profit over people. The New York Times has utterly failed America. Its columnists could have used their talents and word skills to inspire and unite a nation. Columnists such as Frank Rich and Paul Krugman, however, revealed their true colors by evading their once-in-a-lifetime chance to help and instead chose to divide, condemn, and fuel the fires and poison the waters of Louisiana. In them, I saw no Brotherhood. The newspaper always preaching "compassion" verifies Shakespeare's "They protest too much."

Similar elitists here in the northeast and on the west coast have over the years expressed their view of the South as unsophisticated" and Texans as "cowboys." Well, the South has come through, especially Houston and other parts of Texas, whereas, as I write this on Labor Day, the limousine moralizers are lying on east and west coast beaches thinking they're doing their part by reading Times' editorials and calling George Bush "racist." How sanctimonious life becomes when proving you are not a racist depends not on living in a truly integrated neighborhood, but by simply calling others racist.

Like so often in history, facts trump platitudes. Reality reigns. Those who always preach brotherhood, thus far have acted devoid of it. Those who for decades have been accused by elitists of not having compassion are the ones living it. They are: the churches, the military, and the sons and daughters of the South.