Harish Palaniappan's: Is America really what we think.. ??

People living in Developing countries like India look towards America and the west for inspiration, for the work of people who make it a developed nation.

But recent exposures in the media of the insides of the American life in the aftermath of the hurricanes, suggest differently. Also, The way the media shows-some, hides-some, and diverts-some news, probably to avoid exposure of bad things that everyone thought only happened in under-developed countries, are exposing the stability of the American life.

What I am talking about here is, the following news items read since 9/11...

Item 1:

Wal-Mart store near downtown New Orleans on Friday, Sept. 16, 2005 suffered significant looting after Hurricane Katrina which will delay its reopening.

Item 2:

Two hurricanes have now hit Louisiana, wreaking terrible destruction. New Orleans continues to flood. Hundreds of thousands of people are scattered across the country, many in shelters. Given the scale of the calamity, surely it's time for Louisiana politicians to stop, assess the damage and work out the most rational way to help their state recover. Surely this is not the time for the government to write blank checks, for legislators to get greedy about unnecessary canals in their districts, or for federal agencies to launch projects that make future flooding more likely. Surely this is the time to spend money wisely. Right?

Wrong -- and if you thought otherwise, then you, like me, are still learning how deeply corrupt America's legislative branch has become.

Read more on this: Washington Post

Item 3:

American Red Cross gets signed agreements from Katrina victims who are given financial aid. As per the agreements the victims have to return every penny that is being given to them. Having disturbed heavily by the storms, katrina victims now also get into a debt unavoidably.

.. Meanwhile people wonder 'Where is all the money received as donations Going!'

.. Multi billion dollar greed by the Red Cross

Item 4:

A former Red Cross official who admitted embezzling thousands of dollars from the donations given for the victims of 911. Federal Prosecutors got convictions for four felonies. "While serving as executive director of the Western Upper Peninsula Chapter of the Red Cross in 2001- 02, She used Red Cross money for personal things and submitted false financial reports to national and regional offices. Some of the money she took was from the "liberty fund" set up for the terrorism victims"

[Note: Some of these newsitems are old and some are new.. they are shown above in newest first order]

Is America really what we think..??
Have you come across looting from shops by people during a calamity in your country??

You discuss!!

Below are some news links trying to slightly highlight the reality of corruption in America.. Notice that below links are not from BBC or CNN (I wonder why are big news agencies quiet on these things.)

Comments

I too feel like America is slipping in it's leadership in several key areas. Like in workers rights, environmental awareness, and disaster response. The hurricane's Katrina and Rita showed us I think that as a nation we really need to re-adjust some of our priorities.

Posted by: hurricanes | November 1, 2006 10:44 PM

Harish Palaniappan's

Is America really what we think.. ??

written on: September 28, 2005

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