Speaking as a Canadian, I'm pretty much in agreement with you dillon. I'm saddened by the response I see around the world and here in Canada. "Right on, here's our chance to punish them for Iraq" is basically what I'm hearing. Frankly, I'd like to see my Prime Minister handing George W a big fat cheque to help out. Perhaps he could take a few hundred million that he's otherwise wasting on a useless gun registry and do something worthwile with it. Can the US make it without the worlds help? You betcha. Should they have to? Absolutely not. Frankly, when people lower themselves to body counting to determine wehter or not help is warranted they've lost the plot. America has helped many many nations in bad times in the past and now is the time some of those can give a little back.

"Exactly. What about the vast number of people who died in that stampede in Iraq today? Surley someone in Iraq has a computer with FS on it?""Now we have jokes... Good day everyone."That's not a joke. 500 people are dead.Jeff

I think Avsim have been very fair regarding the miserable events in the southern states. Didn't see much on the 'other' forum apart from a thread on how some guy managed to land his plane on some runway in NO, during the storm (how wonderful). If someone wants to make a donation they can if they search around, including right here on Avsim such as the Salvation Army charity that Sonar5 highlighted. Public appeals for financial donations (in the UK at least)are very often for African nations except for the recent tsunami disaster appeal. No appeals were made for the floods in Europe this year, or for the even more severe and widespread floods in Europe a few years ago. Likewise, there did not seem to be many public appeals for donations for the massive floods that affected Mumbai this year.Sounds obvious, but I would have thought the long term impact of this disaster, is first and foremost a matter for the US treasury department, although $25 billion dollars is a heck of a cost for any country. I would hope in future that citizens of hurricane prone areas, would evacuate immediately when major storms are predicted, just as Katrina was.Losing ones property is not the end of the world, awful though it may seem at the time. Our thoughts are with you guys.,Daniel

Most did evacuate. The ones who didn't were primarily poor and had no way to leave and no where to go.

People have died on the Gulf Coast, others are missing, many are homeless and yet this thread descends into political bickering!

You're right, I'm done with it.Donate if you want folks, if not, whatever.http://www.salvationarmyusa.org

"What about the vast number of people who died in that stampede in Iraq today? Surley someone in Iraq has a computer with FS on it?"First off Iraq is a ravaged nation that we are already spending billions of dollars on. Iraq get's press everyday. As far as 'simmers in Iraq', who there can think about simming when suicide bombers are floating around every corner??? That must have been a joke on your part...New Orleans is in America. In America we are afforded the luxury of having computer outlets that sell Flight Simulator. This is where Avsim and other sites come into play. As Microsoft has attested, there is not a major city in the United States that simmers don't reside. Imagine simulation has given us KMSY and the Avsim library has many files from different versions of Flight Simulator over the years with free additions for this area from people living in this area...I'll tell you this, I pay Flightsim.com a yearly fee for first class membership and be damned if a disaster happens in my area and nothing is said about it. The Flightsim community has supported many things outside the realm of FS in the past. You

I have read all of your posts in this thread. My conclusion? This is simply a cheap shot at AVSIM.Let me put this in perspective... My company has an office in New Orleans, an office in Ocean Springs, a shipyard in Pascagula and a shipyard further east from there (I will let you figure out the company). We have six unaccounted for people in the New Orleans office. We have dozens unaccounted for in the Ocean Springs office, and an untold number at the two shipyards. Of the folks in the New Orleans office, three that I know of are now without homes including my former boss'.. One lost his home and all its furnishings, two pets, his boat and his car. One has a totally flooded home and is probably a write off. Of those in Ocean Springs, many many many of them lived in areas that were totally flattened by this hurricane.I am talking about the potential loss of my colleagues and fellow employees. You know why AVSIM hasn't posted about this??? Simple. I am the one that usually posts these types of articles on our front page. I have had a few more things to worry about than your sense of what is "right" for our community. EDIT: and I also might add that our staff member and forum admin, Ken Salter has not been heard from since Sunday morning. Your use of this subject to bash AVSIM is BS.

Tom,Did anyone email you or the staff before stating the Avsim was not interested in making any type of post or story? I bet not.People: ALWAYS ASK FIRST, then post later.

No, of course not. Some would rather pillage us publicly first, which apparently was his intent.

This message came in to me as I was writing the above...-------------Quote:This message all business, suitable for anyone. Personal email later. Circuits do not allow long distance telephone calls yet, but I get good TEXT MESSAGING on my cellphone at 504-XXX-XXXX. I have access to email via dialup till tonite at [email protected] I may not have it for long beyond that. Please have MIS configure/reconfigure my email address to bypass the New Orleans office router so I can access XXX and get company emails from whereever. Send me instructions about how to do that, or how to dial-in for access. Attempting to locate and secure lodging for family in Baton Rouge, LA. Will setup shop and work out of there with assistance from the company. As soon as I have an address, power and a landline I will send shipping info for Computer equipment and Blackberry that Joyce was working on for me. I have a FAX machine with me, so I can get some documents. Need a list of email addresses, as I dont have any access now to email lists. If there is any organized Corporate, or XXXXXXX relief effort for the area, I will join in as soon as I have my family secured. Let me know how I can help others less fortunate here. God bless the USCG and all First Responders. They have been magnificent! Hope to see you all soon-------------------I high lighted the last paragraph to make a point. This man just lost his entire house, all its furnishings, his boat, car and two pets. He has only the clothes that his family was able to pack... and yet he volunteers to help those less fortunate. This is a colleague that I have known and worked with for 18 years. The need for a news report on the front page of AVSIM to assuage the angst of a few pales in comparison to the very real concern that we have had for the potentially hundreds in the area that are our friends and colleagues.

I've got some more praying to do.And some donating,too.The courage of these people is unbelievable.God bless 'm.cheersJP.

I cannot believe you people.Just because there are less dead does not make it any less of a tragedy.I am a member of the Oklahoma Disaster Management team. Our team was activated during this however I was unable to go due to an illness.I have however been recieving word from Team members who are close friends of mine.The Truths....People are still trapped in their houses.There are dead in the streets, an noway at this tie to remove the bodies.Injured people with a GCS of less than 5 are not being considered viable, and are being left to die, due to the sheer amount of injured.Most hospitals are without power. Medics/Doctors/Nurses are hand ventilating patient 24/7 to unsure they continue to survive.A New Orleans Police station came under automatic mahine gun fire twice yesterday.The looting in not confined to shops, people are robbing, and killing each other for whatever they can get.Most medical staff have stopped leaving the hospitals due to the increasing violence.Hospitals are under guard by the National guard due to security issues.and these are but a few of the things that are actually going on in New Orleans as of yesterday. It is going to get worse before it gets better. No Food, No Drinkable water. Try to belittle this tragedy that is fine, have you really become so desensitized to life that just because some are not as bad off as others they deserve no respect?

Tom, just so you know, my comments weren't aimed at AVSIM. I'm troubled by the response from my own country more than anything else.

Hi All:A quick post to let you know that I am OK and just now got power back. More later...