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This is no time to displace the displaced (Barf alert)
Miami Herald ^ | September 3, 2005 | Ana Menendez

Posted on 09/03/2005 12:34:18 PM PDT by Libertarian444

By ANA MENENDEZ amenendez@herald.com

Cancel the stupid game.

Let the Hurricanes, the Seminoles and their hollow mascots play another day. I don't care how long the fans have been waiting for the FSU-Miami showdown in Tallahassee Monday night. I don't care about Devin Hester's kick return.

What kind of country amuses itself with choreographed violence while the world burns? How low have we sunk on the moral scale when hotels in Tallahassee are kicking out victims from the real hurricane to make way for a bunch of football fans?

We have become a country neck-deep in entertainment and shallow in ourselves, a bully nation that cannot take care of its own people. This week the Census Bureau announced that 800,000 more workers are without health insurance and an additional 1.1 million Americans have fallen below the poverty line. Where is the outrage?

How much can the rest of the world expect from a country that is full of plans for everyone else's betterment, but cannot take care of its own? Don't bother looking for solace from our leadership, not when the president, who is now touring the devastated coast almost a week later, gave a post-hurricane speech that had all the profundity of a halftime show.

So football should do the next best thing and take a principled stand: ensure that no evacuees are kicked out of hotels, period. And donate all the proceeds -- everything, ticket sales, advertisement, salaries -- to relief efforts.

I didn't expect introspection when I floated the idea to UM's athletics spokesman Mark Pray and I didn't get it: ''Are you going to give up your own salary?'' he shot back angrily.

(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 09/03/2005 12:34:19 PM PDT by Libertarian444
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To: Libertarian444
So football should do the next best thing and take a principled stand: ensure that no evacuees are kicked out of hotels, period. And donate all the proceeds -- everything, ticket sales, advertisement, salaries -- to relief efforts.

Tell you what, Ana Menendez, you take a principled stand and donate your salary first, then let the rest of the world decide what to do with their money....

2 posted on 09/03/2005 12:40:12 PM PDT by freebilly (Go USF Baseball!)
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To: Libertarian444

Its a shame the AD didn't give her a better answer - like

"This game generates $10,000,000 for the University system. That money has to be replaced from taxes it's lost or the schools have to do without.

If other housing is available at less than a cost of $10,000,000 for two days then it makes sense to use that other housing."


3 posted on 09/03/2005 12:42:47 PM PDT by gondramB
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To: Libertarian444

I don't give a damn about college football, but Ana should go throw herself into the waiting arms of Papa Fidel. I'm sure she would like the way he runs things down there....


4 posted on 09/03/2005 12:44:57 PM PDT by clintonh8r (Liberals preach comity and practice calumny.)
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To: Libertarian444

Hey Ana, shut up already, I'm trying to hear Nero play his fiddle damnit!


5 posted on 09/03/2005 12:46:18 PM PDT by txroadkill
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To: Libertarian444

I'm not going to read the rest of the article, but just as a side note I wonder...

How many displaced citizens from New Orleans could Miami take in, given the new law that limits the space convicted sexual predators are allowed to occupy in that city?


6 posted on 09/03/2005 12:46:51 PM PDT by Fearless Flyers (Proud to be of The Brave and the Free, http://fearless-flyers.com)
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To: Fearless Flyers
How many displaced citizens from New Orleans could Miami take in, given the new law that limits the space convicted sexual predators are allowed to occupy in that city?

Are you saying thats what the refugees are?

90,000 refugees are in TX and 18 of them are living in a home in a neighborhood that has $300,000 to $350,000 homes for FREE.

7 posted on 09/03/2005 12:55:50 PM PDT by stopem
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To: gondramB

I am a conservative and a Republican, a strong supporter of President Bush and I agree totally with this article. It is shameful that a game has priority over the lives of these victims.


8 posted on 09/03/2005 1:10:19 PM PDT by kjo
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To: freebilly

"Barf Alert" is a monumental understatement. After reading this tripe I may never eat again.


9 posted on 09/03/2005 1:14:49 PM PDT by traderrob6
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To: kjo

"I am a conservative and a Republican, a strong supporter of President Bush and I agree totally with this article. It is shameful that a game has priority over the lives of these victims."




It's not a question of whether a game is more important than human life - it isn't. And there is certainly nothing inconsistent with your being a conservative and caring about the refugees more than a game.

The question is whether we house them somewhere that costs tens of thousands or whether we house them somewhere that will cost millions.


10 posted on 09/03/2005 1:17:12 PM PDT by gondramB
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To: gondramB

No. The point is to house them somewhere NOW! These are human beings each with their own soul. They should be flown out and cared for in the first possible place. To hell with the cost.


11 posted on 09/03/2005 1:31:20 PM PDT by kjo
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To: kjo

"No. The point is to house them somewhere NOW! These are human beings each with their own soul. They should be flown out and cared for in the first possible place. To hell with the cost."

Thats fine if our resources are unlimited. But tying up this stadium is the equivalent of using $1000 a night hotels - there is a reason we don't do that - so that we can spread recovery resources to help as many people as possible.


12 posted on 09/03/2005 1:34:00 PM PDT by gondramB
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To: Libertarian444
Could someone post a photo of Ana (writer of this story)

I just want to see if you are the typical mold of the left elites. If you had a brain a "red-worm" would marry you.
13 posted on 09/03/2005 1:42:29 PM PDT by Tannerone
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To: kjo
***No. The point is to house them somewhere NOW! They should be flown out and cared for in the first possible place***

Then send the Red Cross your address and tell them to send the people down (or up).

14 posted on 09/03/2005 2:12:58 PM PDT by Condor51 (Leftists are moral and intellectual parasites - Standing Wolf)
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To: kjo
"No. The point is to house them somewhere NOW! These are human beings each with their own soul. They should be flown out and cared for in the first possible place. To hell with the cost."

It's attitudes like that that have given us such a monstrously large unaccountable govt. now. Good thinking. (/sarc)

Why stop there. Let's cut them all gazillion dollar checks like the 911 families. That was a great precedent set. It's not your money!!

15 posted on 09/03/2005 2:54:25 PM PDT by monkeywrench (Deut. 27:17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark)
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