TAZ on Hurricane Katrina: Philipp Mausshardt's Sick Schadenfreude

(By Ray D.)

We knew this would happen. We knew some sick member of Germany's extreme left-wing media would express their deep joy at the tragedy in New Orleans. Of course, we hoped that such twisted outbursts of Schadenfreude would simply never happen. But this is Germany. This is the same country where 31% of Germans under 30 believed the US government could have been behind September 11. So, in a way, we weren't shocked to see the following piece by Philipp Mausshardt in the Tageszeitung (taz). But the article, entitled "The True Catastrophe" is shocking nonetheless. The concluding paragraphs read:

"Yet joy and sympathy beat simultaneously in my chest. I am, for example, joyful at the moment that the latest hurricane catastrophe hasn't again hit some poor land, but instead the richest country in the world.

Yes, I even see in that a form of balancing justice for that which the inhabitants of that country have done to others through their war in Iraq.

I would, however, be even more happy, if I knew that only the houses of Bush voters and members of the Army had been destroyed.

I feel genuinely sorry for all the rest."

What an enlightened thing to think: It's just fine if people suffer, suffocate and starve, as long as they are political opponents or have a different worldview. It's just fine if people lose their homes and drown in their own feces, as long as they are members of the US military and red-state Bush voters. It isn't so bad that an entire city has been flooded and thousands killed and displaced because it is somehow "balancing justice" for this to be happening to the United States and not some poor nation.

Dead Hurricane Victim: "Balancing Justice" (photo source)



Mausshardt: Hope that corpse was a Bush voter or military! Now that's fairness! (photo source)

Mausshardt: Katrina America's Packback for Iraq (photo source)

TAZ: "Yet joy and sympathy beat simultaneously in my chest." (photo source)

And make no mistake, far more people in Germany share Mr. Mausshardt's views than anyone is willing to admit. The only difference is that Mr. Mausshardt is extreme enough to express his opinions openly. We have already heard more than one story of other Germans expressing similar views in private. Disgusting but true.

And think about this: Is it any wonder that sick people like Mausshardt continue to turn a blind eye to the world's most brutal dictators while they blast the United States? These are the very same people who celebrated Stalin's holocaust sixty years ago as the brave new world. These are the very same people who locked people with different political views away to rot in Stasi prison cells. These are the very same people who still can't admit that Germany is free and democratic today (and not one big Soviet colony) largely because of the men and women of the United States Military...ironically the very same people they wan't to see suffer and perish today.

And make no mistake: People like Philipp Mausshardt must be aggressively confronted when they write this sort of disgusting garbage. We at Medienkritik would like to hope that Mausshardt does not represent the majority in Germany. We honestly believe that he does not...but sometimes we are not always so sure about that...and that is what worries us.

You can contact Mr. Mausshardt via taz at: [email protected]

Update: In the latest TAZ editorial by Michael Streck entitled "America Ashamed of Itself", the author writes what it is really about for the angry left...and it's not helping those in need:

"One week of the flood catastrophe make it even clearer: The United States is standing at a breaking point. "Katrina" will burn itself into the public conscience like "9/11" or Saigon. The storm not only destroyed America's picture of itself. It has, moreover, the power to end the Republican era sooner than expected. America is ashamed of itself." (emphasis ours)

Make no mistake folks. For the bitter left this is an enormous moment of opportunity. Or so they think. From the beginning this has been about the blame game. They hope that this horrible disaster will sweep them into power more quickly than they had hoped. Sad but true: At a moment when America needs to unify and overcome political divisions, many hope to exacerbate those divisions and the tragedy that is Katrina to their own political ends. The media feeding frenzy has only just begun, so buckle your seatbelts. And these are the same people who always criticize Bush for being a divider instead of a uniter...you may throw up now...

Comments

[stavr0s]

The hatred of Philipp Musshardt and his ilk will be repaid largely by indifference. Nobody in America cares what Germans think. No one in America wants to die for Germany either. We’ve already made an investment on the Rhine and we’ve moved on.

[Zyme]

Hmmm when I took off to the Alpes on friday, that hurricane news just arrived at all tv stations if I recall it correctly.

After a few days of climbing mountains (and not receiving any news) - what do I see when taking a look through the newspapers of the last few days and various Inet Newscenters?

It looks like whole New Orleans was nuked.
There is one striking thing that came to my mind reading about the way, that catastrophe was dealt with:
Many americans (also in this blog) tend to say that germans are greedy, stingy and selfish people, not caring about their neighbours and those living in other countries.

This is probably true in times of ordinary life - when there is peace and no imminent threat to the german society. We also dont care a lot about our society and our country in those times.
When there is a great danger for our nation like during wartime or for a considerable amount of our population like during a natural disaster though, we stand together and fight for our people and fatherland to the very end - in a coordinated way, but nevertheless willing to help each other as long as possible.

In the american society, it seems to be just vice versa.
When there is ordinary life and nobody threatened by an imminent disaster, everyone praises the american way of life, the melting pot society and how well all those races are integrated into american society. Everyone seems to be caring about his country just like a good patriot is expected to do.
When there is a time of need though, like at this natural disaster - we can see neighbours robbing each other, drug addicts raiding medical supplies and killing those who came to help, racial hatred turning into gunfights, gangsters raping innocent children and so on and so on. The failure of the clash of cultures becoming obvious.

Of course i dont want to defend those german leftist fools who make their fun out of those poor victims - i feel deeply sorry for all that were harmed or lost their homes.
But the way, ordinary american people are dealing with this situation is striking. I personally have never expected a lot of the american people as regards organization and dealing with catastrophical situations - but some of my friends have. They were terribly disappointed and disgusted by those reports of people harming each other instead of fighting together.

Last but not least, this funny President refusing european help at first and asking for it afterwards made many laugh cordially. 500.000 packets of instant food that Bush wants from us? Technical assistance for providing potable water? I recall a moderator of N-TV asking what kind of a humiliation this is for the self-elected "most powerful" nation..

And before getting angry about the way this all is reported in german media, I can provide you with what austrian radio stations were reporting during the last 3 days (the only kind of media that I had on the mountains): All they were worrying about was the fate of 17 missed austrians, not really mentioning what happened to those hundreds of thousands americans at all!
(which is why I was so surprised by the dimension all that damage has reached when coming home)

[Solitudinarian]

"Last but not least, this funny President refusing european help at first and asking for it afterwards made many laugh cordially."

Really? I would also like to laugh cordially. Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell us exactly when President Bush refused European help.

I'm not going to be laughing cordially, am I?

[Toby]

Ray D:

It's a sick piece, I know, I had pointed it out in one of my posts last Friday already (as had commenter "Neoplot"). I think, though, that it is supposed to be some sort of sarcasm and provocation. If you read the whole editoral (including more bullshit about other natural desasters in Europe), it certainly seems so. I am not justifying what Mausshard has done here, but it is important to note. Basically, I think it is a piece of deliberate provocation to draw attention - and that's the actual scandal: To ridicule the victims in the disguise of polictical skit.

[EABinGA]

¨Last but not least, this funny President refusing european help at first and asking for it afterwards made many laugh cordially.¨

Well, this is one of the classic ¨Damned if you do and damned if you don´t moments¨.

No matter what the President does, he will be ridiculed and criticized.

Btw. the 14.000 food rations that Germany is flying in is not really impressive. The superdome itself was stocked with rations to supply 15.000 people with food for 3 days. I can even go into my cynical German mode and claim, that Germany is only filling up spare space in their already scheduled flights and the rations are probably about to expire and need to be used or destroyed soon anyhow. Big deal! (Just an Example what the German press would say if the Americans sent rations like that, not really claiming that they actually are old, but who knows?)

[Solitudinarian]

A commentary is a type of article. Here is a quick and fast rule for you: every commentary is an article, but not every article is a commentary.

[Don Miguel]

"It looks like whole New Orleans was nuked."

That was Mississippi. New Orleans looks like it always has (a trash bin), except that most of it is flooded.

The rest of what you wrote seems to be just as knowledgeable.

[Querdenker]

@EABinGA

Germany flies in those rations in dedicated Bundeswehr planes. More is on the way but you want to make sure first that the stuff is needed. After the US gladly accepted the cargo of the first plane, more is to follow.

Sorry if Germany didn't plan for ever sending food help to the U.S. Next time we know...

[too true]

When there is a time of need though, like at this natural disaster - we can see neighbours robbing each other, drug addicts raiding medical supplies and killing those who came to help, racial hatred turning into gunfights, gangsters raping innocent children and so on and so on. The failure of the clash of cultures becoming obvious.

If the people left in New Orleans after the evacuation were typical of Americans, I would agree with you.

However, the city has never been typical of the US. It has long had the highest murder rates in the country and a well-deserved reputation for massive corruption. Even some shipping companies have moved to other ports at higher transit costs to avoid New Orleans lately. The city chose to have one of the lowest ratios of police to residents of any city, despite the high crime rate.

Moreover, the mayor and administration of the city totally abdicated their responsibilities under our emergency planning system. They didn't even have a generator to keep police radios working. And they knew from a near miss in 2004 that sending people to the Superdome without food or water would be a disaster.

They CHOSE not to evacuate the city prior to the storm using public buses because they were afraid that the storm would pass by without damaging things and the tourist industry would sue them for lost income. A cowardly lack of leadership.

THEN ... they tried to cover their failures by legally doing everything they could to keep the federal government out while also publicly demanding aid that was, by that time, very difficult to deliver.

Keep watching America. You will see the real side of us emerge. I just spent much of yesterday and today with a group who are organizing support for families with pets .. veterinary care, housing for pets that cannot go to shelters, etc. It may sound like a small thing, but those pets link the families to the life they have lost. People have opened their homes to strangers who need a place to stay where they can also keep their dogs. People are driving mobile homes down to the relief areas right now to make them available for temporary shelter and use by workers.

The American bloggers have raised over $ 3/4 million in just a few days. We will raise a lot more to supplement the official aid. We have only begun.

What happened in the Superdome was criminal in two ways. Much of it was carried out by criminals who have gone unchecked in that city for far too long. And the failure of local and state authorities to control the situation OR allow the federal authorities to seize control quickly is criminal as well, in my opinion.

[St.Roch]

You might not believe this, but I actually agree with how you feel about the comments. Sure, if that's his opinion, he's free to express it. But that doesn't make it any less shameful.

[Cosmo]

"Is it any wonder that sick people like Mausshardt continue to turn a blind eye to the world's most brutal dictators while they blast the United States?"

No, it's not any wonder at all. That's because there has never been any risk or cost associated with Europe's non-stop show trial of the U.S. Try hectoring Beijing at every opportunity and see how many contracts you lose.

[Foobarista]

Here's a good quote from Chrenkoff's site: (chrenkoff.blogspot.com):

Also, I'd point out that Mississippi is actually poorer than Louisiana, and has a similar racial mix. The difference: its leaders actually did stuff as opposed to crying on TV and yelling at Bush:

I read Gov. Blanco's (D-LA) statement too with some weird bemusement. Free tip - contrast the Louisiana situation with the one next door in Mississippi - Gov. Barbour (R-MS). What's been lost in all the blather over New Orleans is that it was really Mississippi that took the big hit. The buildings in New Orleans are still standing; the Gulf Coast of Mississippi basically has been scrubbed, like God took out a pencil eraser and just erased it. (Up in the northern hemisphere, since storms spin counterclockwise, the worst part of a hurricane is the "right-front" quadrant - because the wind is going with the momentum of the storm's movement, plus the wind pushes the storm surge along. The center hit basically at the MS/LA state line, so MS was on the bad side.)

I really don't like to find fault at times like this, but one thing that was missing was a quick recognition that in such a situation the potential for civil collapse is nearly 100%. Once the weather settles, you need to immediately declare marshal law and send in the MPs. That's basically what Haley Barbour did in Mississippi - there were a few early problems but very quickly the MPs were patrolling what was left of Biloxi and Gulfport and keeping a lid on things. Back on Tuesday when I put on the news and we all saw Kathleen Blanco bursting into tears, I knew that was the wrong message and would bring trouble. Louisiana and New Orleans basically have those touchy-feely, "I'm okay, you're okay" soft-leftie types in charge. Their education took a few days and has been expensive.

So I hope you're Watching Mississippi. Highly recommended - we may have found our next President out of this (you heard it here first).

Amidst all the hyperventilating that's going on, it's actually a good time for a civics lesson, particularly watching the competence of the people in Mississippi and the gross incompetence of almost all concerned in Louisiana. Who was responsible for what?

- The mayor of NO has been a good hyperventilator, but one thing became obvious quickly. NO is below sea level and it was inevitable that someday The Worst was going to happen. NO didn't even take the worse possible hit (MS did), but it was clear that no one in NO had ever planned for The Worst. Last weekend, the mayor said, "Everyone get out of town." It's obvious that lots of people weren't able to just load up the car and go - folks with no transportation like that, the incapacitated, patients in hospitals, etc. There was no plan to really evacuate the city, and it's the local officials (over decades) who were responsible for that.

- Why wasn't the National Guard called out sooner to maintain order? Responsibility with each state's National Guard contingent in situations like this (where they operate within state boundaries) is the responsibility of each state's governor. To put it bluntly, the responsibility for calling out the NG in LA rested with the governor. If it didn't happen on time, that's HER failing.

Mississippi got hammered much worse than Louisiana but is barely in the news because the leadership has been much more competent. Ms. Blanco is clearly way out of her league in this situation.

This was a good reminder that LA has for decades been our worst managed and most corrupt state. I briefly caught a bit of the News Hour last night, and David Brooks pointed that out; he also pointed out something that's pretty obvious - for the most part, the South has been booming for the past 25 or so years. The major cities went from backwater jokes to leading cities - Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas, all of Florida, etc. The "hole in the map" in all of this has been Louisiana - it's like the last 25 or 30 years of southern growth have passed it right by. Get away from the gussified tourist areas and NO is a pretty awful city.

He also asked why we were so good at quick response halfway around the world in Banda Aceh while we seemed so unable to handle something right in the country. That's actually pretty obvious to me. Indonesia was a piece of cake because there was no bureaucracy out there - "What have we got over near there?" "The USS Lincoln battlegroup." "Send 'em in and let the Navy people on site to run the show." Inside this country, you have multiple interlocking bureaucracies that just don't know what to do on their own, let alone when they try to interact.

When I worked for ibm, the bureaucracy in the headquarters region in lower NY was so bad that the people "running" (sic?) the company even admitted that they couldn't manage it. The company's successes came from intentionally putting activities far away from there to keep the "system" from "managing" things. When ibm wanted to build its first PC, they set the project up in Florida to keep it far away from the HQ mess. The site I worked at was far enough away (eventually NOT far enough though) away to be able to get things done without interference. Those award-winning ibm laptops? That was all done in Japan, to keep it REALLY far away from HQ.

The most effective response to NO probably would have been to just turn the project over to the Navy immediately and tell everyone else to leave them alone. But of course that wouldn't happen because then all those bureaucracies would be forced to admit that they are much worse than useless when the crunch comes...

[moracus]

@ EABinGA

Btw. the 14.000 food rations that Germany is flying in is not really impressive. The superdome itself was stocked with rations to supply 15.000 people with food for 3 days. I can even go into my cynical German mode and claim, that Germany is only filling up spare space in their already scheduled flights and the rations are probably about to expire and

A simple "thank you" would have been enough ...

--> Bundeswehr Homepage: Hilfslieferungen in die Hurrikan-Gebiete in den USA

I believe our Medevac Jet with a complete team of about 40 doctors and nurses was also on its "scheduled" way to the US, right?

--> Deutsche Welle: US Accepts German Help After Katrina

oh well ... Zynisch geht die Welt zugrunde ...

[Querdenker]

The first plane with provisions was sent on its way without even a landing permission from US authorities which had not responded to the German help offer. Germany just sent it anyway. Now the planes are accepted gladly.

Note from David: Wow! This is important news, and you're right on the spot with a bit of irony. There were even https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/PopTopics/berlin.htm">more planes, and I guess they were accepted gladly as well...

[moracus]

Concerning the Mausshardt commentary:

You surely know what the german word "Glosse" (english: "gloss") means - an ironical, malicious, sarcastic and critical short comment.

German Wikipedia: Glosse

In this case aimed at sensationalism, gaping reporters and whatnot.

The same commentary includes the line:

I find the fact that gapers obstruct traffic is completely normally and I never understood why the traffic radio has an undertone of disdain for these people.

Would you really take a line like that for serious? Honestly? Or is here someone trying to criticize certain behaviours by maliciously and ironically overstretching the image he is building up? The TAZ is a very unusual piece of paper and I can surely understand that most americans will never understand (or tolerate) the underlying sarcasm of most of its articles. But the conclusion is a little too easy as the TAZ would never feature an article that is written and MEANT as blunt as this one. In fact, you have to read between the lines, as the obvious in most of the more sarcastic TAZ articles is not part or even the opposite of the intended message. That leads us a little into the "Critical Theory" of the "Frankfurter Schule" and other media-theories, but I do not want to get to technical here...

However, I must repeat my previous conclusion from a previous comment:

Just by reading the comments on this page, I encountered remarks like:

"Nobody in America cares what Germans think. No one in America wants to die for Germany either. We’ve already made an investment on the Rhine and we’ve moved on."

which leads me to the conclusion that the creators of this page might be contributing themselves to the "divide of understanding between Germans and Americans" that they criticize frequently, by picking headlines and partial abstracts arbitrarily and putting them out of context to support certain anti-German stereotypes.

Oh, and please add a discussion forum ;)

[Toby]

I agree, moracus, it is probably not meant to be serious. but it is still an outrageous bit of mockery on the victims' back. I guess it is the typical TAZ kind of humour. however, it uses phrases that fit very well with that papers general ideology of the States and their oh so vicious, incompetent and uneducated president. maybe Ray has fallen for the provocation it surely intended, because that's what it is: a provocative, pitiful bit of a try at German humour. everyone here in this blog laughed their head off. well I guess the TAZ readers did, I would not put it past them.

[RayD]

Humour? You have got to be kidding. This isn't humor, it is sick no matter how you want to interpret it. There simply is no way to play this down or defend it. It is ugly, vile filth and it is our job to let those responsible for writing this know that we reject it in every way.

[moracus]

On second thought, I must admit that the remark "Nobody in America cares what Germans think." by a previous commenter is a splendid piece of irony as well, considering that it was posted on a website that focuses predominantly on the german media. ;)

[f15c]

As an American who spent almost a year in Germany in the late 1970's and enjoyed the country and especially the people I am grateful for any and all help provided by Germans to help with the disaster in the gulf states. Period.

I do want to clarify something though, the president did not and would not refuse offers of assistance from anyone. Please understand that many, many offers are coming in from outside as well as inside the US, and it is impossible and unwise to accept them all for immediate delivery. Why? Because this disaster will last for years, and some of the offers of assistance may be better used in the coming months instead of today. There are only so many people available right now to figure out how best to deploy the external assistance offers. FEMA (Federal Emergency Managment Agency) only has 2600 employees - and they are all working around the clock right now not only on the Katrina disaster, but as we are still in the midst of hurricane season, they are ensuring we can respond to the inevitable other hurricanes and floods and tornadoes that will happen over the next few months.

Also, it should be mentioned that New Orleans is most certainly not a typical American city. As a matter of fact, New Orleans is probably the most atypical American city. The state government of Louisiana has pretty much always been the most inept and corrupt in the nation. Louisiana is the only state to base its laws upon Napoleonic law versus English common law. New Orleans has been in a state of disaster played out slowly for many years. The highest murder rate (three times the national average) and the most incompetent police force imaginable.

As a basis of comparison, the city of Biloxi, Mississippi was hit far harder than Louisiana and has been and is responding very well. No whining, just dealing with reality.

Also, in my opinion as someone who has worked in disaster response through one earthquake and two floods (one similar to the New Orleans flood) I can tell you that the blame for what transpired in New Orleans lies squarely on the shoulders of the state and local authorities. In my mind the Governor of Louisiana, and the mayor of New Orleans and some of their staff are criminally negligent. For example, the city of New Orleans owns over 600 buses that - according to its own hurricane response plan - should have been used to move people out of the area before the storm hit. But those buses are all now under water. Their own plan states that those buses should have been moving 72 hours before the storm hit. There is no excuse for so many people being left in New Orleans. None.

That aside, don't forget that well over 1 million people did successfully evacuate the area on their own. Though it took president Bush calling the Govenor of the state of Louisiana and appealing to her to evacuate New Orleans and the surrounding area to get her and the mayor to order the evacuation. That evacuation should have been ordered at least one day earlier.

Also bear in mind that Disaster Response Plans in the US require that the state and local (non federal) authorities operate for three to four days before they should expect any help from the federal government (FEMA). That fact is well known and is supposed to be planned for well in advance. So the mayor of New Orleans telling the federal authorities to 'get off their asses's' is nothing more than incompetence in the extreme. No one in the harder hit areas of Mississippi were making those kind of hyperbolic remarks... They were busy saving lives and restoring order.

[atmx]

If you think the US is accepting rations out of immediate need, you are probably mistaken. The reason is that the US is accepting things is because it looks bad politcally if you reject the aid offerings. As for doctors and the such, I really don't think there is a need as plenty of US doctors and emergency medical teams are making their way to the region or already in place. In some cases, they have found that there is no need for their services at the places they went too.

Anyway with regards to idiotic commments by Germans, I think the US media needs to start reporting on this crap. The ensuing boycott of German products will teach the Germans a lesson.

[Dan Kauffman]

Posted by: moracus | September 05, 2005

I agree, moracus, it is probably not meant to be serious. but it is still an outrageous bit of mockery on the victims' back. I guess it is the typical TAZ kind of humour. however, it uses phrases that fit very well with that papers general ideology of the States and their oh so vicious, incompetent and uneducated president. maybe Ray has fallen for the provocation it surely intended, because that's what it is: a provocative, pitiful bit of a try at German humour. everyone here in this blog laughed their head off. well I guess the TAZ readers did, I would not put it past them.

Posted by: Toby | September 06,
***************************************************************************

And if an American editorialist had a similiar bit of humour written about a German catastrophe, you would be equally sophisticated in seeing it at
"a provocative, pitiful bit of a try at humour."

And laugh your heads off?

I am not suprirsed at TAZ, and I am grateful for some forums of communication such as this blog showing that viewpoint is not universal. Forgive me if I have come to the conclusion it is however wide spread.

What I think is funny is that

"Nobody in America cares what Germans think. No one in America wants to die for Germany either. We’ve already made an investment on the Rhine and we’ve moved on."

is morally equivalent to

""Yet joy and sympathy beat simultaneously in my chest. I am, for example, joyful at the moment that the latest hurricane catastrophe hasn't again hit some poor land, but instead the richest country in the world"

Mississippi, Louisianna, and Alabama are 3 of 51 states some of the poorest states and on the level of some of the poorer EU Nations, so put that in perspective when you justify the glee in that article.

I have the idea that anyone here who wrote an article in the same vien about a foreign disaster would initiate a fire storm of public and media denunciation. Americans would not stand for it.

[Dan Kauffman]

I am trying real hard to remember that this website indicates we still have friends in Germnay,

I am not sophisticated to see the humor.

JFK said so may years ago Ich bin ein Berliner."
To TAZ
Wir sind keine Berliner
We are not Berliners, not to some Germans, not anymore

Feel free to correct my grammar (Note from David: done)

[grlzjustwant2havefun]

--Last but not least, this funny President refusing european help at first and asking for it afterwards made many laugh cordially. 500.000 packets of instant food that Bush wants from us? Technical assistance for providing potable water? I recall a moderator of N-TV asking what kind of a humiliation this is for the self-elected "most powerful" nation..---

According to Ralf G. (a German) posting at Chicago Boyz:

it wasn't quite that problematic. The Bush Administration waited until it had a specific list before it asked, and the Europeans said that they would help if asked. Given the distance that is pretty standard peocedure, for it wouldn't do to haphazardly ship goods across the Atlantic.

[Solitudinarian]

"But the conclusion is a little too easy as the TAZ would never feature an article that is written and MEANT as blunt as this one."

Really? Other than your contention, all evidence points to the conclusion that the TAZ would feature an article written and MEANT as blunt as this one. Because they did. Feeble efforts such "Hey, it was just a joke - don't you get it?" will not change that fact.

Or maybe the old Beck's commercial is true: Germans REALLY don't do humor.

[Toby]

In fact, they don't.

Hey, St. Roch, considerate, unbiased critic of this blog, I am curious what you think: Meant to be serious or not ?

[St.Roch]

@Toby: What it was meant to be I don't know. But I know that, if it was intended to be funny, I didn't get the joke. I'm an easily satisfied person as far as humour is concerned; I seldomly laugh, but often grin, even at jokes that are extremely stupid. I also like a bit of black humour once in a while. I did not laugh or grin when reading the article. Maybe I would have, had I read the thing in a few weeks or so, I don't know. But at the moment, while the corpses are still being counted? No.

[Gudrun]

Hier könnt Ihr schon seit dem 2. September jede Menge Links in den USA, in Deutschland und Frankreich (einen)zum Spenden finden sowie auch einige Kommentare von mir:

Spenden für die Opfer des Hurrikans Katrina
http://www.eussner.net/artikel_2005-09-02_02-33-04.html

Und hier hat das Schaf einiges zu blöken über die französischen Journalisten, aber auch über Alice Schwarzer, die am Sonntagabend, nach dem Kandidatentheater, bemerkte: Ich bin stolz, daß solches wie in den USA bei uns nicht passieren würde!

Stellen Sie sich auch nur eine Sekunde allein die geographische Ausdehnung der verwüsteten Zone vor? Es sind 335 000 qkm ... Die Fläche von ganz Deutschland zum Vergleich: 352 022 qkm. Bei uns wären also 17 000 qkm trocken geblieben, ein Areal, 1000 qkm größer als Thüringen. 95 Prozent von Deutschland hätten unter Wasser gestanden. Ja, da kann sich Alice Schwarzer aber wirklich freuen, daß solches in Deutschland nicht möglich wäre!

Hurrikan Katrina: Gonzales Jose Melchor an die französischen besserwisserischen Journalisten
http://www.eussner.net/fundsachen_2005-09-04_16-08-06.html

[Tyranno]

What a surprise! Obsessive, emotional hatred from another "we care more than you care" progressive liberal.
Not at all unlike Michael Moore's pithy diatribe on not understanding why Al Qaeda hit the Blue city of New York when there were so many Red citys full of Bush voters in America he could have flown his airplanes into!
Bin Laden must not be as smart (and not as obsessively hateful??) as those good progressives, Moore and Mausshardt.

Tyranno

[Doug]

If you think the US is accepting rations out of immediate need, you are probably mistaken. The reason is that the US is accepting things is because it looks bad politcally if you reject the aid offerings. As for doctors and the such, I really don't think there is a need as plenty of US doctors and emergency medical teams are making their way to the region or already in place. In some cases, they have found that there is no need for their services at the places they went too.

Doctors are still working around the clock, they can use all the relief they can get. And I would hope that we're accepting the material aid with gratitude, not political calculation. With hundreds of thousands displaced, I think that all aid is very likely welcome.

[Don]

"Mississippi, Louisianna, and Alabama are 3 of 51 states some of the poorest states and on the level of some of the poorer EU Nations, so put that in perspective when you justify the glee in that article."

Mississippi is probably #50 in most rankings of US states. There was an interesting debate last year comparing Sweden with Mississippi. A strong case can be made for Mississippi being better off than Sweden. It's probably more prosperous than East Germany. Well - before Katrina it was. Will be again, too. 3% growth beats out 1% growth every time.....

Their was another piece earlier this year which concluded that the only EU state which would fall into the top 20 states in the US would be Luxemborg.

[Don]

Another oiece of news - apparently relief workers aren't finding the number of bodies they had been expecting. 151 confirmed dead in Mississippi and 118 in Lousiana. It's early yet but the indications seem to be that 10,000 deaths may have been way too pessimistic.