NEW ORLEANS – Forty years ago today, 32 people perished after an arsonist set fire to a gay bar in New Orleans. Many of the victims burned to death, unable to escape the flames that consumed the second-story bar in the famed French Quarter. The others died from smoke inhalation.
Fifteen people suffered gruesome injuries but survived. About 30 others were guided to a little-known exit door, where they fled to safety on a neighboring rooftop.
Really says it all about that time and place, that the cops could not be bothered to drape a handkerchief over the face of the burned-alive victim trapped in the window grating. Just left him there for the crowd to look at, for hours.
One things for sure, the bastard who set that fire is experiencing an even worse inferno, many times over! The folks who gave their approval & did the cover-up deserve the same. No justice on Earth but justice in the next life!
One things for sure, the bastard who set that fire is experiencing an even worse inferno, many times over! The folks who gave their approval & did the cover-up deserve the same. No justice on Earth but justice in the next life!
...Did you know that you are scary when you get like this?
One things for sure, the bastard who set that fire is experiencing an even worse inferno, many times over! The folks who gave their approval & did the cover-up deserve the same. No justice on Earth but justice in the next life!
...Did you know that you are scary when you get like this?
Sorry about that. Keep in mind that I do not believe in eternal damnation. I believe Hell is a temporary, purgatorial state.
One things for sure, the bastard who set that fire is experiencing an even worse inferno, many times over! The folks who gave their approval & did the cover-up deserve the same. No justice on Earth but justice in the next life!
Honey let me give this to you straight. You're not an adult. You want to be, but you're not. You tend to fly off the handle and act very fundieish at the drop of a hat and then sit around wide-eyed and wondering why the crap you just left on the floor has everyone looking at you funny. That's why we don't accept you. Most of us are adults here. And those who aren't, tend to be very mature for their age. You...you're not.
Ironbite-and that's disheartning.
Honey let me give this to you straight. You're not an adult. You want to be, but you're not. You tend to fly off the handle and act very fundieish at the drop of a hat and then sit around wide-eyed and wondering why the crap you just left on the floor has everyone looking at you funny. That's why we don't accept you. Most of us are adults here. And those who aren't, tend to be very mature for their age. You...you're not.
Ironbite-and that's disheartning.
Honey, I'm 38 years old. I'm much older than you think and, no, I do not have a learning disability.
Spuki has explained in the past, repeatedly, that she has an ongoing challenge with mental illness and also has to struggle to pay for her meds. If her posts annoy you, ignore them. What she posted just now is so clear and clean and heartfelt, and I have never seen her attack or disparage any forum member here. She always apologizes, even when it really is unnecessary. Snark is fine, it's just a small forum, who cares. Some of the personal attacks and disparagement are bad enough to poke a finger in the eye of the forum rules, IIRC . Mature, adult responses don't normally include snide wording and utter dismissal of the person. Now, feel free to diss me for defending her. And confirm what she just said. The snark backs at Spuki are frankly a bit more annoying to read, so I usually skip them. Sigh...all this within a thread condemning hatred and intolerance.
The act as atrocious as it may be is interesting in its own right.
I know that buildings have maximum capacities because of fire hazards, and that so many people were unable to escape is a good indication that there were just too many people. To my understanding though this would be from an era when such codes and regulations didn't exist or were not enforced.
It is fascinating how times have changed. What we see now as a great tragedy, at the time was probably seen as a just end by the people around there. Hence the little to no effort in dealing with the crime.
Unfortunately, he was conscious for the most part until trauma shock made him pass out; he had air to breathe. Witnesses heard him screaming in pain.
Especially the morbid ones, I might add. And the accounts of homophobia in Russia. And the stories of gay Holocaust survivors (http://Holocaust survivors). And what happens in Uganda...Really says it all about that time and place, that the cops could not be bothered to drape a handkerchief over the face of the burned-alive victim trapped in the window grating. Just left him there for the crowd to look at, for hours.
I went to another site and saw the photo. Words can't describe what I feel.
Should I post it with a spoiler (to hide it)? Not to be sensationalist or a weirdo or anything, but these images must be seen. We can't let this tragedy & injustice be forgotten & images, including really morbid ones, have a tendency to galvanize & make people think.
Unfortunately, he was conscious for the most part until trauma shock made him pass out; he had air to breathe. Witnesses heard him screaming in pain.
Especially the morbid ones, I might add. And the accounts of homophobia in Russia. And the stories of gay Holocaust survivors (http://Holocaust survivors). And what happens in Uganda...Really says it all about that time and place, that the cops could not be bothered to drape a handkerchief over the face of the burned-alive victim trapped in the window grating. Just left him there for the crowd to look at, for hours.
I went to another site and saw the photo. Words can't describe what I feel.
Should I post it with a spoiler (to hide it)? Not to be sensationalist or a weirdo or anything, but these images must be seen. We can't let this tragedy & injustice be forgotten & images, including really morbid ones, have a tendency to galvanize & make people think.
Gives the lie to theconservativetheory that "homosexual perversion of what God intended" and "liberal fascism" is the source of violence in America. I wonder what Ryan Dobson's (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38961.Be_Intolerant) reaction would be if the pictures you speak of were shoved in his face? We'd probably get a tap-dance about how "homosexuality should be confronted in a loving manner" and how Uganda and Russia don't count as "Judeo-Christian."
It's also entertaining to imagine the rhetorical contortions Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh would go through to argue that the homophobes in this story were all "liberals".
Obviously, there's a shitload of evidence that individuals should have rights regardless of whether or not the majority approves. Liberty >>> Democracy.
Sure seems like any time the enforcement of "traditional values" comes into play, the result is pointless suffering (http://www.vice.com/en_dk/read/jesus-africa-really), oppression by the state, and violence against those who are not allowed to defend themselves. How come, in practice, NONE of these traditional values ever involve the tradtional value of leaving people the fuck alone?
I crossed out "conservative" Edmund Burke and Barry Goldwater deserve a hell of a lot more intellectual legitimacy than the racist theocrats (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Buchanan) who get to call themselves "American conservatives."
Obviously, there are tradtional (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-Spirit) values (http://www.cracked.com/article_20474_5-shockingly-progressive-ideas-from-primitive-cultures.html) that are not necessarily bad. Not that that makes any difference to authoritarians who like to make their highly selective view of history and tradition the authoritative version, as cracked.com notes (http://www.cracked.com/article_19864_6-ridiculous-lies-you-believe-about-founding-america.html).
...Whew. Nice going, Spukikitty, now you've got me ranting. Enthusiasm really is contagious-- or, more accurately, "someone is RIGHT on the internet." Someone needs to make that a meme.
. Also, I apologize in advance to anyone who feels spammed by the cracked.com links. What can I say? Take with a grain of salt (http://www.jasoncolavito.com/1/post/2012/05/the-truth-behind-the-native-american-discovery-of-america-in-60-bce.html), of course.