[09x03] February 11th, 2007

Yup - Mississippi and Alabama were hit almost as hard by Katrina as Louisiana was, ....Louisiana's problems are entirely self-generated at this point.
Mississippi was hit hardest, and is far worse off still, it's just under-reported because it lacked all the drama of New Orleans. No one has heard of Gulf Port Mississippi, everyone has heard of New Orleans.
Also if you notice other states hit by the hurricane don't seem to have as much trouble as Louisiana.
Big misconception. Mississippi was hit waaaaay harder and the emergency response was just as slow there. It's rather embarrassing that church groups from Atlanta reached Gulf Port Mississippi quicker than the national guard did.
I don't know if this has been posted yet but I got the info on that gas station run by those inbreed hicks.

State Line Pride
32485 Us Highway 90
Seminole, AL 36574
251 946 2080

They must be taught a lesson.
Lovely that's about a 45 minute drive from where I grew up. (Pensacola Beach, FL... the barrier Island just off the coast of Pensacola).

well since I know the area, I can vouch for the fact they chose the armpit of the region. Just west you have Fairhope Alabama, one of the most well to do old money cities in the United States. To the east you have Pensacola, the oldest city in the United States (yes it's older than St. Augustine). Pensacola's Spanish-Colonial downtown area is charming, safe, and boast reasonably good real estate prices. (You can buy a typical 2 bedroom house in the $800,000 range). to the South you have Pensacola Beach, Perdido Key and the Floribama. Some of the nicest beaches in the world. heck, even if you go north you still hit Atmore which has more millionaires per capita than almost anywhere else in the United States. (lots of oil money in a small population).

So yea they stayed away from the nice areas, which is fine, it makes for good TV. Would have been a pretty boring Episode if they had traveled down hwy 98 and filmed the three of them lounging around on sunny beaches with bath-tub warm waters and sugar-white sand.

... I live in the US and was unaware the situation was still that bad. It must have to do with discrimination of blacks or the city planing there. I ve lived in florida and went through 5 hurricanes in one year and had no problem.
Few reasons for this.

1.) Katrina was waaaaaay more powerful and destructive than anything you've been through in Florida.

2.) The 2004 Florida hurricane's happened during an election year. The Day after Hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola the National Guard was there. Two days later Bush was there. Few months later Florida voted for Bush over Kerry. Everyone was on their best behavior in 2004.

3.) Katrina was mishandled at all levels of government. It annoys me that people justify federal incompetence by pointing at city/state incompetence in Louisiana. Mississippi was just as mishandled as Louisiana was.

4.) 2004 saw an unprecedented number of hurricanes that put a massive strain on labor and materials in the southeast. When Katrina hit a year later those resources were already stretched too thin.

5.) Individuals rebuild the houses, not the government. All this talk about corruption at the city and state level as justification is misinformation. Homeowners are the ones that have to repair their homes. They get money from insurance companies, then hire contractors to do the work. The Insurance companies are the ones putting the stop on the money flow, not city-corruption. Case in point we didn't get our insurance Check for hurricane Ivan (which hit in 2004 mind you) until this past October. Thankfully my family has the financial reserves to begin rebuilding without the insurance check, but most families are not in that position.

This is what my house looked like through most of 2004 to 2006.
IMG_0063-ivan.jpg

Note: The whole lot was buried under a 3 foot drift of sand, the foundation was torn to pieces and we had a few walls collapse. We lost everything on the first floor. To be honest though, we were way more fortunate than most, and a year later when Katrina hit just west of us,... well that was a whole new category of destruction. Death count for Ivan was 6 people I think, I doubt we'll ever know how many people lost their life in Katrina.

Anyhow sorry about this hurricane rant, but I get very annoyed when people outside the Gulf Coast Region start to ignorantly blame the slow progress and reconstruction on the people that live along the Gulf Coast. The Federal Government dropped the ball during the disaster, they have since done a fair job, but the slow reconstruction is mainly the fault of insurance-corruption, and in the Mississippi and Louisiana side you have more poverty. Right after Hurricane Ivan construction costs had a 4 fold increase, I can't remember what it went up to after Katrina, but I can't begin to fathom how hard it is for a poor family to hire a contractor at inflated prices right now, especially when insurance companies refuses to give them their settlement.

Okay, sorry for the rant, I can't take jabs from Jeremy Clarkson all day long and have a good laugh at myself, but this continuous lack of understanding by people not in the Gulf Coast Region about the hurricanes really riles me. sorry if I've offended anyone.
 
It is a little bit "wierd" that the richest country (kind of...) has such big problems with down n' outs and rebuilding New Orleans. The could get their lazy asses of their couch and do something.

If they do they will end up with a lot of people to work and pay taxes. And that's helping everybody.
 
The level of misinformation and ignorance about New Orleans--and the U.S.A. in general--outside of the U.S.A. is astonishing. You guys get your view of America from Jeremy Clarkson and the biased BBC, lol. That's just great. It's sad. It's not your fault, but it's sad. One guy actually wrote "And I'm usually quite interested to know what's going on in the US, which is why I watch The Daily Show." The Daily Show!? Wow, you really are misinformed, that's the saddest quote I've ever heard in my life. You get your views of America from some jackass on a comedy channel.
OMG you totally missed the point reading my post. You are SO wrong man, THAT is amazing!
The level of "misinformation and ignorance" as you call it is actually REALLY low. It's just that the media here have a different style reporting things (no not leftist believe me). The reports (documentaries) we see about America are made in the same style as the local and European reports we have. Meaning it's more about content than fancy digital graphics displaying fear-mongering titles for subjects to bullshit about by the likes of O'Reilly and Hannity (FOX News anyone?). But hey, I know that's just one TV station and there are plenty more (read: better) US TV media sources. But they all NEED to have stupid graphical in-your-face layouts that are annoying to watch and divert attention away from the mostly absent content. I mean why does a serious looking guy like CNN's Blitzer need to spend his entire show about an irrelevant DEAD bimbo (we get CNN USA at night)? There must be more RELEVANT topics for him to talk about, no?
And about The Daily Show, YES I know it's a comedy show and because I like COMEDY I watch it. I know it's a fake-news show! And he's not a jackass, even if you're right-wing. He just uses his comedical skills to point out the obviously retarded things in his country because no-one else will! Do you? No you don't! Because you're probably mesmerized by the flashy graphics displaying the latest update in terror-level (OMG it's ORANGE we're all GOING TO DIE aaarrrggghh!!!).
Thank God (I'm not religious, but hey) for the Internet. It may have lots of crap but there are some gems of websites (like this one) out there; I read quite a bit from the American written media's websites, and as a media source they are MILES better than the TV crap. So don't worry I don't use TDS as an information source. But I thought you could've read that between the lines. Guess I was too optimistic.

I apologize to other Americans reading this. This rant was only intended for the person quoted.
Sorry about the Capslock abuse...
 
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Just wanted to tell that i liked the most of this episode,
maybe its the hammond's accident that gave birth to this different TG episode,nice variation..
Im more and more impressed by TG camera crew after each episode.
 
8. If, as they say on the video, the rednecks' trucks pulled out right after them, the rednecks would have caught them. They were in the rednecks' home town, and TG guys were driving slow vehicles - game over. The rednecks didn't catch the TG guys because they weren't chasing them.

I'll throw up this scenario:

Rednecks manage to catch up to the "TG Convoy" and run pass. However, lead redneck truck notices a "Marked Unit" (i.e. Cops, State Trooper, Sheriff, Highway Patrol, etc.) and they have to peel out of there fast. TG Convoy takes the opportunity to try and remove the paint off the cars.

Because of the urgency to wipe off the paint, it's pretty much "All hands on deck" type of deal. So the cameramen and audio guys dump the stuff and help out with the wiping. One crew memeber takes cameraphone and records whatever he can while helping out.

Editing to make no sense, but I think this is a plauseable scenario.
 
i hope top gear does return for another "america special", but drive through new england (northeastern u.s.) or the pacific coast like so many of you who live in those areas want. when top gear shows only the ugly side of your neighborhoods and antagonize your locals, i don't want to read any posts from y'all.

top gear wouldn't have any problems describing the putrid smell and mafia body dump sites of new jersey; the dilapidated ghettos and housing projects of new york city; and the hate groups and racist irish in boston.

while in california, top gear can spend an evening with the sniper rifle bearing citizens who pick off mexican border jumpers; tease the ever-growing homeless sleeping on hollywood boulevard; film the oakland locals "ghost ridin" and then get mugged by the gangbangers later; ride through san francisco with "gays are going to hell" written on a miata; and finally spend the final leg of their trip watching "hitler's top 10 speeches" and having tea with the neo-nazis in seattle.

yeah, i'd love nothing more than top gear to come back for a visit. then, all of us rednecks in the southeastern u.s. can tell all our worldly friends, "new england really is just like top gear showed" and "yep, that's exactly what california is like". how would y'all like that?


^ they can also check out the meth addicts on the hawai'i islands. then, rile up the "kama`aina" (natives, locals), and edit an exaggerated reaction to show the crew getting gang jumped/mugged for being "haole" (foreigners).
 
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First post here, so "hi, everyone!" :)


Great show, but is it just me or is TG heading more and more towards being a "car-based-comedy"-show? The first three shows of this season devoted way too much time to having the guys cock about and they all lacked good old-fashioned car-testing.

When I first discovered TG two years ago (mostly thanks to finalgear.com) I thought I had discovered the perfect car-show: Mostly "serious" testing, some good advice for potential buyers, coupled with hillarious comedy and a refreshing, non-PC attitude (something you'd never find on German TV I might add). In fact, Clarkson's review of the new Golf GTI was one of the main reasons for me buying that car in late '05.

These days, there's just not enough testing. Like the bit about the three coup?s in last week's show (Audi, Alfa, Mazda), which had the guys cocking about on a golf-course and in a museum most of the time. The track-results were thrown in almost as an after-thought. Or the guys talking about new cars they'd tried during the winter: Instead of actually testing some of the cars they bashed/praised, they simply said one or two sentences about each one and moved on.

EP03 fits the profile, since it seems even more focussed on the presenters and not on what they *should* be doing (reviewing cars). That's not a show I'd expect at the beginning of a season, but rather a special to be broadcast during the TG-free time of the year.

So in short: I hope they'll get back on track and tone down the comedy a bit in the next episode, cause I still think TG is *the* best motoring show I've ever seen.




Sascha
 
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Just has to comment as a non Uk viewer

Wow

From here in Oz I am trying to think if there is any region here where an Englishman could drive a car covered in selected writing that would place him in fear of life. It'd have to be racial criticism to get a similar reaction I'd guess. Further, what they wrote on those cars was nothing like that. Rather than be invaded, can just say "Only in America". Obviously there are normal Americans and you can't group them all together (poor buggers), but that is a new minumum standard of behaviour I've seen from there. Ironic that one of the towns was Bagdad, so yeah, good on the Top Gear Crew for going in for the rest of the free world. n8)
 
OMG you totally missed the point reading my post. You are SO wrong man, THAT is amazing!
The level of "misinformation and ignorance" as you call it is actually REALLY low.
<--snip--->
But I thought you could've read that between the lines. Guess I was too optimistic.

I apologize to other Americans reading this. This rant was only intended for the person quoted.
Sorry about the Capslock abuse...

As an American that has to deal with these type of folks every damn day..I salute you. Good post.

Damn good episode too. Having moved to the South from Chicago some 17 years ago, I can vouch for how scary it can be down here for those that are fans of thinking.

Yes, Florida is hell on earth.

Now, I know the Brits can poke fun at themselves too...I watch "Shameless".:mrgreen:

New Orleans is a mess...but folks are working on it. It's on SUCH a grand scale and the prev poster talking about insurance holding up funds is correct.
Remember New Orleans was barely touched by Katrina compared to the rest of the Gulf Coast. It was the flooding that wiped it out. We have a show in the States called "Dirty Jobs" and they had an ep. that featured how NO was rebuilding and what a momumental task it was. Just how much dirty work had to be put into saving a house and gutting it. Incredible. Most of the work crew was made up of teachers and other professions, that until the area is repaired, they don't have a job.

Big Stig had me howling BTW..

first post!
I'd like some cheese on that please.
 
That could be taken as a declaration of war my friend.

Maybe I could paint "Soccer is a Little Girl's Game" on the side of an old rover and park it outside of a few pubs in England. ;)

Surely not justifying what these hicks did... but rednecks scare the heck out of me. Rednecks remind me of human pitbulls. When confused, their only response is violent. You can also never underestimate how easitly they can be put into a state of confusion.

I simply won't ever go to the deep south, because Deliverance is a documentary.

-Justin
 
...guidos scare the heck out of me. Guidos remind me of human pitbulls. When confused, their only response is violent. You can also never underestimate how easitly they can be put into a state of confusion.

I simply won't ever go to New Jersey, because The Sopranos is a documentary.
 
Wow....I'm really impressed by the number of new members this thread generated.
I KNEW this would be a big thread when I watched the episode.
Oh, and I liked it.

I think it was the EPISODE and not the THREAD that generated all those new members! Almost as many as the crash!!!
Nothing like a bit of negative publicity to get people flowing through the gates!:lol:
BTW, a question for our US members: Was this ep given any (bad) airtime on local or national news? That would account for some of the forty-odd pages.
 
The desire to make a more entertaining show, perhaps?

What would posess them to decorate with offensive slogans or eat roadkill? Hmmm... Same thing, I'd imagine.

...and they suceeded. It was a very entertaining show although it certainly didn't paint America in its greatest colours.

From here in Oz I am trying to think if there is any region here where an Englishman could drive a car covered in selected writing that would place him in fear of life. It'd have to be racial criticism to get a similar reaction I'd guess.

I'm sure we'd see the funny side. In fact a while back, my friends and I painted (not painted, more sorta scratched into the faded paint) some Nazi logos on our old '86 Skyline (this car deserves a thread of its own, but not now) and a few other err...provocative messages, which drew attention sure, but only from the police who told us to remove the offending logos. People just didn't care. Those southern Rednecks certainly didn't have a sense of homour!
 
I think it was the EPISODE and not the THREAD that generated all those new members! Almost as many as the crash!!!
Nothing like a bit of negative publicity to get people flowing through the gates!:lol:
BTW, a question for our US members: Was this ep given any (bad) airtime on local or national news? That would account for some of the forty-odd pages.

No coverage. The show doesn't air in the US. Any American viewers are watching .avi files.

-Justin
 
first hello! (since i'm new here),

the episode was astonishing, just brilliant! think its my favourite so far!
cheers!
 
The deep south

The deep south

I am an American that has watched every show since the 4th season. It is amazing. I love the show.

I was born in Pensacola Florida in 1965, a place that the guys had to travel through if they were taking back roads and not the interstate. More than likely they were traveling down Florida Highway 98.

Their view of America is very biased. Remember that they were trying to provoke people into shooting them. If I came to England, I bet I could get the same results if I painted a car with slurs on them and drove around enough calling the locals names.

I live in Atlanta Georgia or a north suburb of it but I do have a house still in Pensacola and I travel the back roads of Alabama and Florida on a regular yearly basis. You will never find nicer people. You will also never find more angry people if you are trying to provoke them to shooing you.

Yea it scared me to see the locals throwing rocks. But, if they were really trying to hurt them they would be shooting at the ground in front of them. There is a very strong police presence here in the states. A single shot of a gun will get every county and state police in a cruiser in a 10 mile radius there in 10 minutes or less, I would fathom a guess of 10 or more.

If the crew decided to stick to the interstate 10, if one of them had by chance broken down, I am sure there would have been people that would have stopped to help them out.

Here in Georgia we have H.E.R.O units are a part of the Department of Transportation that will actually do minor repair on your car at the side of the road. Enough to get it to a repair shop down the road.

America isn't full of the people that you saw on this show. I myself have even help a couple out that needed to be in North Carolina by night fall, and replaced a water pump on their car for them. I took the guy to the auto parts store, he purchased the water pump, I went to my house, picked up the tools and had the water pump replaced while his wife and kids walked to the local fast food restaurant 200 yards away. They called me from North Carolina to say thanks.

I must admit that the cow on the roof was hilarious. But you are never going to find one on the side of the road. NEVER. They had to buy it.

The pillows in the Fat STIG was obvious too. I can understand them poking fun at us FAT Americans too... But not all of us are fat. I've taken to riding a bicycle to work which is 6 miles away. I would say that I am more James May size. I am not the norm though.

Ive been to Pensacola shortly after hurricane Katrina. The devastation in Pensacola was amazing and Pensacola is 200 miles from New Orleans. The reason why America hasn't repaired itself is because imagine taking 400 square miles of anything in any populated place in the world and flattening it. I would estimate 500,000 homes have been affected.

Now imagine insurance companies going bankrupt and not paying out to fix your house. Our house in Pensacola had the roof ripped off, the insurance never paid. It was up to us to fix the roof. No imagine the labor force that are carpenters and how many it would take to fix 500,000 homes. Most houses are a complete rebuild. Most in Pensacola could be repaired in a weeks time with a crew of 3 or 4. Multiply 3 or 4 people for a week then multiply that by 500,000 homes and you have a minimum of people that you would need in man hours to fix all the houses.

Is there any doubt that all the houses couldn't be fixed. If you came to America to work on fixing houses, wouldn't you work on the houses where you knew that you were going to be paid on too? With out the insurance money, most people can't afford to repair their house. So.... Most house a year later haven't even been touched.

There is no reason to fear America. You can go any where in the world an provoke people and get killed, the same holds true here in America.

We are the best country in the world, we do have our problems.

I love the show... Keep it coming even if you do make fun of us across the pond.

Nathan Woodruff
Atlanta Georgia, USA.
 
Dude, stop talking about Florida, which technically is full of Cuban-Expats.

And don't forget all the expatriated New Yorkers with their pants hiked up to their armpits betting on dog races, racing to 3:30 dinner, and waiting to die.
 
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