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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:43 am Post subject: de-stabilizing New Orleans/re-imaging Iraq |
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Last edited by in_seoul_2003 on Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Paji eh Wong

Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:54 pm Post subject: Re: de-stabilizing New Orleans/re-imaging Iraq |
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Thought provoking post. Thank you.
in_seoul_2003 wrote: |
On a board like this where among various posters there's a general (quite totalitarian, in fact) assumption of progress, in the sense that given time development occurs in a very LINEAR way, that is, moving towards some Western epicentre, the tragedies in New Orleans can't help but be a bit funny. |
Oi, I resent that.
I agree that, while you can point to scientific and material progress, social and moral progress is a myth.
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The real tragedy is how fragmented American society is and how badly images of animalism in Iraq are needed for America to cover up its own fracture lines. |
I disagree with you about the images. I think the American public is getting a very groomed and stage managed view of Iraq. No flag drapped coffins, no second round of Abu Graib photos, and nice pat segments about Iraqi civilians between comercial breaks.
I think it would be interesting to swap images for a while. Iraqi's get to see New Orleans for a while, and Americans get to see the Sunni triangle. Maybe then people would figure out that we have a lot more in common than we think we do. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:04 am Post subject: |
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Hey InSeoul, nice to see you back.
Cheers.
OTOH |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:06 am Post subject: |
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My Hero Is a Bus Thief
Houston Chronicle September 2, 2005
By RICK CASEY
When I heard President Bush on Thursday morning call for "zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this," it gave me shivers.
I know he wanted to send a tough message to thugs stealing guns, drugs and flat-panel televisions, holding up hospitals, shooting at helicopters.
But doesn't he realize he would be heard by the moral equivalent of school administrators?
These are people who suspend girls for bringing Midol in their purses or butter knives in their lunchboxes.
What would they do to a kid who steals a bus?
When he arrived at the Astrodome about 10 p.m. Wednesday, 20-year-old Jabbar Gibson modestly confessed that he had commandeered a school bus in New Orleans, then picked up about 70 passengers before heading out for the 13-hour trek to Houston.
Stealing a bus is a felony.
It's also an act of heroism.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3335904 |
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Butterfly
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Kuwait
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:02 am Post subject: |
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On the other hand wrote: |
Hey InSeoul, nice to see you back.
Cheers.
OTOH |
Right~! |
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jinglejangle

Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Location: Far far far away.
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:11 am Post subject: |
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Nice post.
On a related note, I think one of the few blessings about the whole catastrophy is that I haven't been constantly bombarded with news about how it's going over in Iraq for a few days.
It's been a nice break.
I actually found myself missing it tonight, and from the "world" page of CNN.com I had to click 2 or 3 links to read an article about it.
So I guess over 1000 shiites were killed in some stampede last week.
Amazing that that could pass unnoticed. |
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Deconstructor

Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:05 am Post subject: Re: de-stabilizing New Orleans/re-imaging Iraq |
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in_seoul_2003 wrote: |
Rather, that a nation so developed, so progressive, so equal and fair, can so readily, easily and quickly recede to a level of a society so "primal", so "oppressed" for 20 or so years.
The real tragedy is how fragmented American society is and how badly images of animalism in Iraq are needed for America to cover up its own fracture lines. |
Yes, excellent point. We think that we are more civilized than the rest of the world, yet at the first opportunity we descend from the pedestal of the grandest American universities to the lowest common denominator. We ARE governed by forces we can't see nor control. |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:41 am Post subject: |
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Five Shot Dead ... Were DoD Workers
September 05, 2005
At least five people shot dead by police as they walked across a New Orleans bridge yesterday were contractors working for the US Defence department, according to a report by The Associated Press.
A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said the victims were contractors on their way to repair a canal, the new agency said, quoting a defence Department spokesman.
The contractors crossing the bridge to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain, in an operation to fix the 17th Street Canal, according to the spokesman.
The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, across a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River.
Early on Sunday, Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley of New Orleans said police shot at eight people, killing five or six.
No other details were immediately available.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5744%2C16494579%5E12377%2C00.html |
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