doctor scrumpy

Only problem with that arguement is that a lot of those affected have trouble putting food on the table let alone affording high insurance premiums.

Celtic_Angel

I just love your post I haven't read a single thing about tourists but you are exactly right.....and on top of it ...they have homes to go back to.

hmmm just read another post where some British tourists were unable to rent a vehicle to flee because they had no drivers licence.....

Elvira

AFAIK quite lot of reasonably well off people cannot afford flood insurance either because it is horrendously expensive.

And why should poor people pick up the tab because GWB and his cronies preferred to spend the nation's wealth on tax cuts for the rich and a pointless war?

AmerLisa

Indeed! But cleaning up the messes will be passed down to the masses.

Taffyles

Also they stopped public transport on the Saturday afternoon before the hurricane hit!
Brit tourists were told they were on their own, when they asked police what they should do. About 30 ended up in superdome, some in the convention centre.They are telling their stories as they arrive back in UK (reported on the Beeb site)- there are still about 91 Brits missing.

Wintersong

29 of 119 comments came from Brits. That's less than one quarter. The vast majority of the remainder came from Americans, so don't feel too ashamed, eh.

Manc

living 3 foot below sea level between lake pontchatrain and the mississippi...........
erm, of course it is expensive.

Manc

http://forums.british-expats.com/vie...er=asc&start=0

This British guy from another site has actively helped the British (as well as other nations) tourists as they arrivedi n Dallas.

Dimsie

I read that BBC message board a couple of days ago, and like you I felt bad about some of the comments made by British posters. and I am no fan of America or its government. Message Boards don't bring out the best in some people though - they feel able to say what is truly in their hearts about the USA. There's a lot of anti-American feeling, by the look of it. Trouble is they focus on the big picture of America, instead of the tragedy unfolding in Louisianna, where people just like them are struggling to survive. They should be saying "There but for the grace of God...." Britain has a lot of coastline!!!

robousy

Ok guys - brief caveat on behalf of Taffyles, Celcius and wintersong.

instead of my original post reading 'Almost ALL the comments were pretty nasty digs at the US'

lets change this for all the anal readers to:

'Almost ALL the comments by BRITS were pretty nasty digs at the US'

That was the context.

Celsius

How about re-reading what you post before you post it? We can't read your mind (and neither do I wish to)!

snowbunny

We are welcoming them as they will increase the diversity of our city. We have a fairly strong Hispanic population but not nearly as many African-Americans. They are welcome to stay as long as they like, and if they wish to settle here, we are helping them find jobs and housing. If they all chose to stay, that would be a huge number of people to absorb at one go, but we are willing to do it. My only complaint would be traffic continuing to get worse, and that's just from population growth period.

We are one of the few cities that pay for public housing and medical care (money comes from city taxpayers, not state or federal dollars). Yet I have not heard one whinge about the fact that those taxes will need to rise.

You know, no one wanted to take the Jews in post WWII -- they'd lost everything, survived horrific conditions -- only to find that their old homes were gone, people had taken over what was left, and no country wanted them. Appears that this same crap happens today.

Wintersong

Not wanting to start an argument here, but are you saying it's ok for the Americans to make comments about their government and the response to the tragedy but not for Brits to do it?

Or are you suggesting that no-one should be allowed to criticise the way in which the aid efforts have been handled because people have died?

I'm failing to see your point. Sorry for being anal. I'll go read up on my Freud now.

snowbunny

WS,

I don't have a problem with digs at the US, the government, etc. What I've been hearing is that if the same scenario occurred in Britain, not only would the government have excellent plans for rescuing everyone (and the infrastructure like levees would be in tip-top repair, natch) -- but that the Brits wouldn't act like "animals" as the trapped people in New Orleans did. No sirree, they would be decent down to a person.

THAT does bug me -- that the British response by both rescuers and rescuees would be completely civilised and in every way 1,000 times superior to the American effort.

I'd love to see an experiment on say Toxteth Park.

Dimsie

Dunno about the OP, but what made me feel bad about what the Brits were saying was not the usual comments about how late the response was, why wasn't it foreseen and planned for...etc.. It was the ignorant way they were objecting to the idea that they donate something towards the relief fund. It was the tone of their remarks - lack of caring - which upset me.