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Carried Away

This WaPo coverage of looting in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has more than a little sympathy, rationalization, and justification for much of the looting going on.

...as we are also learning from the post-Katrina chaos, what we think of as looting may be more complicated than it seems.

No, it's NOT complicated, moonbat. Stealing stuff, is stealing stuff. And most of the stuff being taken is NOT survival supplies!

Benigno E. Aguirre of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware has been watching and reading about looters in Louisiana. "It may look from the outside as if they are stealing or breaking the law," says Aguirre, "when in fact some of them are trying to survive."

Yep - it DOES look that way, maybe because what's happening IS bad. If some ARE trying to survive, this isn't the prevailing behavior. For instance when a Wal-Mart was invaded by the latter-day barbarians, the guns, and electronics were the FIRST targets of opportunity, followed by other consumer items. The food, and (non-alcoholic) beverages were largely ignored. Yep, survival is insured by a new plasma HD TV!

On the other hand, he says, some of the thieves are garden-variety crooks. "There is always a very small number of people that are predisposed to crime, and they see a disaster as an opportunity to act." There are the disenfranchised who jump at the chance to get even with those who have more stuff than they do. "Disasters can become opportunity for class warfare, and that kind of appropriation of other people's property should be prosecuted," he says.

"Class warfare"? Sounds like our academician has been imbibing wisdom from the fountain of Marx. At least he concedes that they should be prosecuted, thanks be for small favors.

Many may be people taking drastic measures required by drastic times. And some, he says, are the in-an-emergency equivalent of hunters/gatherers, foraging for food, fresh water, medicine, matches, batteries, everyday essentials that are just not available. Not at home, not at shelters.

Again, the Wal-Mart case (as well as others) would be a counter-indication of the validity of this statement.

The images are played on TV over and over: Windows are smashed. Huge dudes muscle into an abandoned store and hustle out with stolen TVs and boomboxes. Women hoist unwieldy packs of diapers and cartons of baby formula. Run-amok hooligans snatch up jewelry and electronic gizmos. Other things are stolen: shopping carts of soda pops and snack foods, clothing, bicycles. There are survivors, scavengers and criminal looters, and it's hard to tell the difference.

No, the distinction is too fine. If someone breaks in to get some bottled water, or food to survive, the Chief would say OK. ANYTHING else - including "scavengers" are thieves. That's it. Comprende?

That is the title of a Dr. Ted Baehr column. Here is the introduction:People will either be self-disciplined or need the whip of tyranny, to paraphrase the famous 19th century sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville. He noted that the United States...

Once again, here are a couple of links if you're wanting to make a monetary donation to help out with Hurricane Katrina aid: The American Red Cross. Soldiers' Angels. The American Kennel Club's Canine Relief Fund. Here's a mailing address...

DARPA's 'Star Wars'-style Laser Cannon

Laser cannon. The words evoke immediate visions of the space war scenes in Star Wars. As it turns out the US is starting to build this new way to do it to them before they get a chance to do it to us. The Darpa program is called the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS).

No muss, no fuss. Direct application of lethal energy to the target with no need for ammunition. Nice.

If you have an interest in other sorts of advanced projects, the DARPA TTO site (use the PROGRAMS link) describes some of the sorts of things that are coming down the chute. SciFi comes to life - our tax dollars at work, and worth every cent!

I'm tremendously touched by the donations I've received so far for our local Sheriff's Relief Fund, a venture that aims to get a truckload of supplies delivered to Mississippi for distribution to local law enforcement/fire/EMT folks. (Click the link for...

Thank heavens for small miracles. A woman who led an anti-war protest for nearly a month near President Bush's ranch said Tuesday that she's glad Bush never showed up to discuss her son's death in Iraq, saying the president's absence...

Chad Schuldt again parrots the lies form the left. As I stated in my previous posts, many use statistics incorrectly. Here is that statistic that Schuldt used:The percentage of the U.S. population living in poverty rose to 12.7 percent from...

If they gave Pulitzer's to Internet blogs, NROs The Corner would get one for its Katrina coverage. I would encourage readers to give it a look and see what smart, caring, and fiesty conservatives are saying. I don't claim to...

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