Comments for Trouble The Water at http://www.okayplayer.com , comment 1 to 22 out of 20 comments http://www.okayplayer.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:21:41 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-20273 Kim & Scott Hang in there boos.....I feelya! I'm glad you went back to Orleans because that's where you can make things happen and bring awareness back to our community. I've never been there but somehow I feel that we are all apart of a much bigger picture. Your story touch the community who knows where you are coming from, but it should touch those who's been where we are at. But to those who want to look the other way....you will face this no matter which way your head turns. Orleans is coming up! It may not be the same....but it's going to be better with people like Kim & Scott. - San Diego Gurfriend Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:56:00 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-6146 "It's interesting that ... after 3 years (over 1,000 days) Scott & Kim along with others are still not self-sufficient." Imagine losing everything you own tomorrow (including all government identification proving that you are who you say you are). Hell you're probably the type to start crying when you lose your wallet. It took folks YEARS to build WHATEVER life they had... Why would you think it wouldn't take years to rebuild it. "Maybe if Kim spent as much time as she does with her music about 'niggers' ... she would have already had a game plan for the evacuation. What kind of complete looser trash writes and sings songs using the degrading “n” word? " What type of person misspells "loser" and calls another human being "trash"? It's ironic how you are so offended by Kim's use of the word "niggers", but yet you seem completely oblivious to the fact that you yourself are perpetuating the same type of degradation. So to you I pose the question - what's worse: being called a "nigger" or being degraded like a "nigger" by your own government? "There have also been interviews with NOLs saying that someone other than themselves and their families should be paying for their needs including gas for their expensive SUVs and other vehicles so they can spend their cash on cigarettes (and probably alcohol too). " What movie were you watching? I never saw anything about Kim purchasing an SUV instead of paying for her needs. I did see her save her neighbors though. I did see them turn her water off. I did see her survive in an attic in a storm that killed thousands. I did see her share what little food and laughter and joy she had with those in her community at their lowest point. I did see two black men who hated each other previously come together to save women and children. Great film. Too bad that some are so blinded by their own self-righteousness that they'll never actually "SEE" it. - Bobby P. Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:33:13 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-5042 It's interesting that the official website is titled "Three Years Later | Trouble the Water" and after 3 years (over 1,000 days) Scott & Kim along with others are still not self-sufficient. The movie producer asked complete strangers in the audience during the movie Q&A if anyone had a house that Kim & Scott could use during the Gustav. In the past 1,000 plus days, they made ZERO plans for the next major hurricane and where to go. Maybe if Kim spent as much time as she does with her music about “niggers” (the most common word used in her music), she would have already had a game plan for the evacuation. What kind of complete looser trash writes and sings songs using the degrading “n” word? The local news has shown many of the New Orleans Losers/Leaches (NOL) who could not afford to take care of themselves nor their children because they buy shit like cigarettes instead of food for their children. There have also been interviews with NOLs saying that someone other than themselves and their families should be paying for their needs including gas for their expensive SUVs and other vehicles so they can spend their cash on cigarettes (and probably alcohol too). These kinds of garbage parents should have their children taken away by child services since they are willing to put their addiction of cigarettes over the needs of their children. These leaches basically said that someone other than themselves are going to have to come up with money to get them back to New Orleans otherwise they would be leaches on the local shelters and communities indefinitely. Will the NOL’s ever learn? Prepare for hurricanes? Take on personal responsibility? Save money instead of buying SUVs? Save money for emergencies instead of buying cigarettes? The last three years seems to tell us no. - Susan_ Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:57:12 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-5018 So criminal activity is considered petty? If Scott shot at or murdered people with the illegal riffle he proudly showed off in the film, that would be considered petty? The hard working people that Kimberly has stolen from is petty? - John_NewOrleans Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:17:23 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4958 Again, pettiness clouds the much larger issue. Hence the problem of New Orleans! - NOLAson Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:38:26 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4948 I wonder if they would be willing for the police to run the serial number of the camcorder to see if they are in possession of stolen property which in itself is a crime not that either of these thugs would give a "god damn" (qoted from Kim's music) - John_NewOrleans Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:21:16 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4941 Does such ignorance warrant a response? - NOLAson Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:04:39 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4898 Who did Kimberly's friend steal the camcorder from because I've never heard of anyone selling a ligitimately owned video camera for only $20. - mike1 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:28:35 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4841 hmmmmm.... - NOLAson Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:36:45 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4840 Tblack, I got you in response to roninwai's: "But, why didn't anyone just evacuate the area? Everytime there's a hurricane/typhoon warning there are people who aren't going to leave they're home and who'd rather suffer the consequences. Last I checked you can't just ignore a hurricane." Roninwai, what Tblack is saying is that means and needs are two very different things. Some people may have the need to do something, but not the means. A very simple point which explains much of what occurred during Katrina. Now, allow me to elaborate. Imagine you live in a city that has a three cylinder economic engine -- tourism, shipping and cultural exports. Then add into the mix institutionalized racism, bigotry, greed, inadequate education, inept government and an overall lack of opportunity -- all ingredients for a socio-economic oppressive situation. Then stir this mixture for 200 - 300 years and you have a city with a very regressive mindset, but moreover, you have a situation that manufactures "the haves" at the expense of the majority of "have nots". For example, say your grandmother completed high school and got a diploma, which would be a big deal 30 -50 years ago, but the best she can do is a job as a housekeeper at a hotel (remember the 3-cylinder economic engine). Your mother follows suit. At this point, you'd assume that education was pointless if your options are limited to hospitality and tourism, so you have a devalued view of education. But let's say you want to beat the odds and do better for yourself, so you apply yourself in school. The only problem is that the school system is joke. So the odds are that you won't have the tools to better yourself even if you have the inclination. Coincidence? So with three repetitions, you have a cyclical creation in which folks have very low expectations for themselves and their set of circumstances. A decent living is being able to make enough money to pay bills, catch the streetcar to work and spring for a few luxuries every once in awhile. That's the life. You do not bother trying to save because, well because it's pointless when you're living from check to check. You don't own a car. You've probably never been out of the state, let alone the city, so the chances that you have friends/relatives outside of the city are slim. So a hurricane brews in the Gulf of Mexico, what do you do? You have no savings, no car, no familiar places to even try and attempt to flee to. What do you do? You do nothing, but hold onto the delicate morsel of life, you've managed to spice up the best way you know how through cultural invention/investment (food, music, partying). And then the hurricane makes landfall, causing marginal damage. Not so bad. But then the levees which serve as the main protection for the city give way because they are poorly maintained because funding has been diverted to a "pseudo war'. You lose everything you have. Your home, your keepsakes, memories, clothes, and even friends and family members. And at the end of all that, someone far from your situation, peering into your existence from a great distance, has the gall to ask you, "why didn't you just evacuate?" - NOLAson Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:34:36 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4516 roninwai, you should really check out the movie. "But, why didn't anyone just evacuate the area?" it answers that question - at least for the family in the doc. - sweetruffian Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:18:57 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4514 damn, I wanna check this out - zionlion Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:00:28 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4407 there was an article in national geographic months before katrina that said the levees wouldn't hold. nobody listens. not the rich or poor. no one likes to be told what to do, they'd rather suffer the consequences and blame someone else. everyone is to blame. - helped rebuild Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:30:23 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4399 Amazing doc saw it at the IFC today... if you go this weekend the producers are there for a Q n A after the show! Take advantage! - Benb Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:22:19 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4256 oh and, adamesq, yo, thanks for that informative response, man. Like I said I was deployed when all this $hit happened and only heard secondhand stories - roninwai Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:42:33 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4255 dude, this is an online comment forum. I just asked why no one left...you said various reasons. Cool, understood. But, really, basically, the point i'm tryin to drive out is that we got to help ourselves, cuz the government ain't gonna do $hit to help us. Black people have always helped themselves and relied on each other- not just us but the American people as a whole. This country is built on people workin for themselves- runnin their own business. But that's going to another topic entirely. But I do agree with you and did from the beginning. The gov't isn't excused for it's complete lack of preparedness and just basically letting a major cultural city like NEW ORLEANS be destroyed. Like i said in the previous post, there need to be reforms on every level of the gov't; especially city and state level. The mayor of New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, and the president all f'd up. Let's hope Obama can help us fix this country. - roninwai Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:40:51 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4254 Why didn't ppl just evacuate? Understand that Katrina the storm, never hit New Orleans as hard as they said it would. It never got above a Category 4 in the 9th Ward. The Levees Broke, due to faulty construction by the government. The Levees were cool in the rich areas and shitty in the hood. That's why the government is at fault from the very beginning. - NyeLee Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:02:26 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4223 "i understand that there was alot of bull$hit that the government did and that it did alot of things wrong. But, why didn't anyone just evacuate the area? Everytime there's a hurricane/typhoon warning there are people who aren't going to leave they're home and who'd rather suffer the consequences. Last I checked you can't just ignore a hurricane." The thing that stands out about your comment is that you do not live or have not visted the Gulf area of the country. The threat of hurricane is constant and if you had family from Galveston to the pan handle of Florida you would know that MANY people do not evacuate for various reasons. But questioning the victims of a disaster is just cowardly. We are not talking about hikers who needless risk their lives for the thrill of mountain climbing, we are talking about human beings who were the victims of a natural tragedy/disaster. Once the storm had passed and national cameras showed you the danger and peril people were in and going through "live"...then help..or get your excuse making ass out of the way so that people who are motivated to help can do so. There is ZERO excuse for the Royal Canadian Mounties to arrive in New Orleans BEFORE American National Guard troops. The in actions of this government were and are criminal. Period. - Tblack Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:44:04 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4219 Check this interactive map from the Times Picayune that tracks the levee breaches http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/flashflood.swf - AdamEsq2002 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:10:40 +0100 http://www.okayplayer.com/stories/misc/trouble-the-water-200808186271/#comment-4217 Okay, imagine this. You've lived in New Orleans all of your life. You know that hurricane season brings risks. But, you've been assured by the local, state and federal government that the levees designed to protect you will do their job. You've either seen or heard all of the conflicting reports. The storm is going to break up over Florida. The storm is going to hit Mobile, AL. The storm is going to break toward Mississippi. You're told to evacuate, if you have the means to do so. If you don't have the means, the Superdome has long been the shelter of last resort. If you do have the means, you have to contend with miles and miles and miles of gridlock. Why? Because the highway heading east has been closed and the good state of Mississippi is not complying with the traffic contraflow plan (where all lanes are redirected outbound. So, you stay on the road and let what should be a 3 hour drive turn into an 8 hour drive or you stay put and prepare for the storm that's not supposed to hit you anyway...that is, if you have the means to make that choice. Then, the storm hits. And the city survives. We dodged yet another bullet. The storm actually did take the forecasted turn toward Mississippi. And, it was much weaker than the Category 5 storm that was predicted. Then, the rumors build that the Category 3 levees that were supposed to protect, that were supposed to bear the brunt of the storm, that were supposed to keep the citizens safe, failed. Failed at the 17th Street Canal. Failed at the London Avenue Canal. Failed at the Industrial Canal. I was one of those fortunate to evacuate ahead of time. What was supposed to be a 4 hour drive turned into 10. My friends and family did the same. But, we had the means and skepticism to do so. I find it difficult to point the finger at those who weren't as fortunate. The government failed the people. Katrina was a warning shot fired to tell America that its infrastructure is crumbling and the government does not have your best interests in mind. - AdamEsq2002 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:51:14 +0100