All chain stores should be opened and everything given for free

At this point, what difference does it make if people come and get televisions? Do the stores think anyone is coming shopping for their crap? There is no such thing as looters if everything is donated to the community.

And who could use it?

Plugging in a soggy TV would be dumb anyway...

Thanks, but no thanks!

...that would be almost the same thing as looting and would play hell with their double entry bookkeeping! Worst of all, it would make some sort of sense - and that has been in very short supply in this catastrophe.

While I agree the merchandise is not very useful at the moment, I cannot condone the looting. It's immoral to say the least. What kinds of lessons are we teaching our children?

I don't think opening the stores up for "taking stuff for free" is a good idea either. I guess you think those who have possessions in their houses in NO should open up their houses and let folks take what they want too because it's insured also?

corporations in the world....and preventing the criminalization of a large group of very poor, very desperate people, over a lot of meaningless crap. They are shooting and killing these people over hair dryers.

abd at one Walmart (any big chain name would do) a guy was walking down the line of people with shopping carts saying, "WE have no ice water formula or anything perishable" and all I could think was "They didn't actually make someone come in to run a freaking cash register did they?"

I think the priorities here are totally fucked up. Completely. The Looting story is just fanning RACIST flames at a time when wedge politics have NO PLACE.

you know, the kind of looting involving billions of dollars. How come you don't whine about that? Ohhhhhh, lookit there, they are stealing stuff!!!! Talk about seeing the trees and avoiding the forest.

It pisses me off what the oil companies do..and get away with legally. It pisses me off that all kinds of companies get away with this balderdash.

But some of the same folks who work at these companies probably stole stuff from mom & pop stores way back when and thought it was cool that they got with it, then continued their own looting as accountants and financiers.

news and opinion on any disaster in this country. When we should be worrying about THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DYING, we're talking about how "immoral" it is to steal TV sets. Get your priorities together and stop acting like self-righteous, priviliged pricks.

in some locations. Groups of thugs have broken into stores, commandeered all of the bottled water and other useful supplies that desperate people need, dragged it out to the sidewalk, and are actually selling it to people, while guarding their loot with drawn guns.

Now, that is some sick shit.

They control the resources. The only difference is instead of using the law to legitimize their claim to ownership over vital resources, they use guns and terror. They can then profit off that control by charging people for the "privilege," not the right, of gaining access to such goods. They should all be given life in prison with no parole.

and are GIVING the food and water away. They are doing the right thing.

As far as looting is concerned: people do what they need to do to survive.

If Bu$h hadn't totally fucked up the emergency response (i.e. he should have had all NG in Superdome and staged north of the areas and NO and Gulf Coast of MS and AL prior to storm landfall and ready to deploy the morning after the storm) we would not be having this discussion.

Another thing: Attention RW anti-gun control, pro-gun advocates: why the fuck are you complaining now? The people are doing what they have to do and arming themselves. Are you complaining about them because they are BLACK?
Think about it.

their merchandise, they should hire guards from outside to patrol their stores. As it now is, the stores have been abandoned by the owners. Desperate people are being tempted.

I am sure you are not including TV's jewlery, law mowers, CD's DVD's I-pods, you know the little extras in life. If it is food, water, baby formula, I can live with that, but otherwise, you are just effectivly stealing private property. I have a hard time justifying that.

those items technically are property of the insurance companies but in truth are non products. They could fetch something for them at a scratch and dent store (normally) but in reality if they aren't used they will go to waste.

Nope nice try-try again.

Your comment doesn't make sense to me, sorry. Consumers will pay more for other things too.

I still don't buy looting as a method of forced "donations", especially if they are being resold. It doesn't work that way.

And why in the name of good sense, aren't these people leaving? It's too dangerous to stay in the muck.

would you, could you walk, in knee deep toxic water, carrying your child(children) for say....6 or 7 miles..to go WHERE?? Let's say you have NO MONEY and of course NO CAR..

Could YOU leave?? How will you buy food somewhere else, with no money.. who will house you for free?

But looting is not the answer either for leaving, taking tv sets etc.

I live in a midwestern city. My life is not cushy, but I'm comparably comfortable. But growing up, I didn't have much. My parents were seldom home because they were working two jobs to make ends meet, then later my mom became disabled mentally, so I practically had to raise myself. My dad was a paraplegic, but he tried selling old cars, owned his own small businesses to keep us housed and clothed. My parents had one car between them when I was very young, then we were able to afford a second, used car that often broke down, but we were glad to have it. Some of the kids in my neighborhood had better clothes, toys, etc than I did. I don't think we had a color TV until I was about 8 or 9.

My dad was robbed at gun point a couple of times. He had other things stolen too. My parents' house was arsonized when I was a freshman in college (using Pell grants and working to get my education), and I had a purse stolen too in college. I didn't steal when I was out of money.

I was laid off 17 years ago and so was my husband. We didn't steal out of desperation.

BUT my parents taught me right from wrong. Stealing is friggin' wrong. Period. None of you can change my mind that stealing when you are poor is OK, or that businesses should gauge customers at a time have so little in their wallets. That's stealing too.

And I have donated to help survivors of Kristina.

I live in a shit-hole tract house built in 1979, and every time a "mansion in a canyon" burns up out here, I pay more insurance too.

BUT even if a mansion in a canyon doesn;t burn up, I still pay more.. Developers (Bush supporters) CAUSE those increases because they continue to build in unsafe areas. They pay bribes to get variances for their "boxes" and we all subsidize the rich folks..

republican-largesse

and not enough is being done about fires either in Southern California.

Can you clarify the last sentence--"republican=largesse"

with variances and in handing OUR money up to them through increases that rarely benefit us :)

...There is flood water everywhere in New Orleans, up to 20 feet deep in some areas. Only one road is open to the outside world, and that's 10 West.

Where's the food, water and medicine that U. S. Government and state agencies should have been supplying since the very first day of this disaster? Why haven't the National Guard been airlifted into the areas where looting is taking place?

NONE of you comments make sense to me, I'm sorry to say. Worrying about the future cost of insurance is one of the VERY LAST things anyone should be concerned about at this point in time.

And how the heck are any of the looted items being resold in New Orleans?? Who the heck has any money to spend? If they had any money at all, don't you think they would have evacuated New Orleans instead of staying in their homes????

What planet do you live on?

Your comment doesn't make sense to me, sorry.

Consumers will pay more for other things too.
Not really

I still don't buy looting as a method of forced "donations", especially if they are being resold. It doesn't work that way.
Resold to who? for what?

Is this like the supposed looters in Iraq digging up huge waterline valves and selling it to the scrap metal dealer? Apparently scrap metal dealers always have plenty of cash on hand.....everyone sold everything they could get to these highly fluid scrap metal dealers! If that didn't make since neither does your statement.

And why in the name of good sense, aren't these people leaving? It's too dangerous to stay in the muck. How? If they didn't or couldn't before* how on earth are they going to now?

*ABC had an LSU prof on last night (Van Heerden?) saying that those who stayed were comprised (the only measurable quantities) of people who had no transportation, those scared of looting on their property, and the infirmed/disabled and those around people fitting one of these categories. The looters are not a significant number to worry about. Stop believing the media.

Explain to me how a tv is going to be use now in NO? Explain to me how somewone is going to carry a TV keeping it out of the water. And even if the items belong to the insurance CO, what makes you think that the insurance co just wants to give the stuff away?

Q2:What makes you think the insurance company is going to go through the expense of getting it, shipping it, and reselling it?

what is not covered by insurance can be perhaps be claimed as a charitable donation. If not, then they can take solace in knowing they did something good for the community.

before the hurricane hit . . . :eyes: . . . expecting damage. The owners of the shops "somehow" manage to have their bigscreen TVs and electronics in their homes . . .

IT'S CALLED INSURANCE FRAUD!

Of course, when it's a business doing it, it's not really news . . .

Just what they need, people flocking to Best Buys to fight over free electronics.

onenote

...Best Buys to fight over free electronics" when they're hungry and thirsty.

You get your fender tapped...yet the cost of replacing the car is greater than the value of the car...it's written off as a total loss.

A good friend had his business damaged in a storm. He lost a portion of his roof and lots of wind and water damage. The adjuster didn't hesitate to write the building AND THE CONTENTS as a loss. He got 80% of what he estimated was the value of those contents, and he surely doesn't have the accounting and inventory a Wally World does.

The upshot is after his store was repaired, his new premiums were nearly triple and almost drove him out of business.

For those who are sooooo shocked by the looting and lawlessness that's going on in New Orleans, you just can't seem to fathom the desperation many of these people are facing and doing whatever it takes to make it until sundown or sun-up...that's all the days they have right now.