Scout Prime, from First Draft, has put together an amazing video regarding the flooding of New Orleans and the aftermath of Katrina. It’s a longish video, but haunting and well worth the watch. Just be prepared with some tissues, you’ll need them.
Scout is at a blogger conference in New Orleans this week, and I’ll try to highlight some more of her work on NOLA as the week goes on, as well as other folks reporting from the area.
I’ve searched for something similar on the other areas in the Gulf Coast region that were devastated by Katrina and Rita, but haven’t come up with any good footage. If anyone knows of a YouTube or a link to something from Mississippi or Texas or Alabama, and some good reporting on how things are going at the moment, I’d sure appreciate a link to it in the comments.
My heart aches after watching this video. Yours will, too.
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errr… FITZ!
now, I’ll read the thread…
NED!
And for those of us without HBO, how we gonna see what Spike Lee has to say and show?
The Bush Administration seems to thing that things are going SWIMMINGLY
Reality must counter this lie.
And, btw, with the hurricane season now underway, let’s hope we don’t need those Reservists.
And I guess y’all saw that Governor Frank Murkowski lost his re-election bid in the Alaska Republican Primary.
I wonder whether he’ll run as an independent.
I am once again speechless, nothing has so moved me to comment (first time) and I have no words…
Prof, I’m sure it will come out on DVD and we can rent from Netflix.
“it’s a disgrace”, someone said… the words aren’t big enough. But it’s a start…
jooshoo at 6 — welcome, and I know the feeling. Scout Prime has done amazing work on this issue, and this video just left me with an enormous amount of sorrow in my heart. I’m looking forward to reading her updates from NOLA while she is down there.
OldCoastie — I’ve got some friends who have Coast Guard relatives who were helping with evacs in NOLA during Katrina. It was some rough work. But they did an amazing job at it. Your former service did you guys proud during the deluge. Would that so many others could have done the same. SIGH
I watched Acts III & IV of Spike Lee’s documentary last night. You owe it to yourselves to watch it, if you can. It’ll break your heart to realize that this is the America we live in. As horrified as we were at some of the media coverage and the gross incompetence of the Bush administration, you really feel the punch of it when seeing it through the eyes of the folks whose lives were torn apart. See it!
Like it was yesterday.
I’ve said it before… the CG showed what the Federal Government CAN do… makes the rest of it all that much more criminal… I’ve never been so angry (haven’t recovered yet) as I was last year, watching those scenes on the tv…
the Coasties did a great job – shows you what some care, concern and dedication can do…
Prof @ 5
Actually, and surprisingly, he did the right thing and conceded. Also said he would support the winner… Go figure.
Who is Rockey Vaccarella? What is Ghost Ride Productions?
CNN now playing “in his own words” from this fellow’s documentary who appeared with Bush this morning and said he wanted Bush around for another term…. but don’t forget us….
Ghost Ride Productions should be
Ghost Rider Pictures. Can’t get into edit. Sorry.
Good article in last week’s New Yorker about the failure to rebuild. The Lost Year
The main photo on NYT right now has this text below it:
Old Coastie -
Amen and Hear! Hear! to what CHS says – Saturday after the storm, we were honored and priviledged to have one of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers from NOLA in our restaurant (on emergency leave to check on LA relatives displaced to TX) – the very baddest of the bad – Navy Seals regularly flunk out of this training
anyway, you would’ve been tickled to see the little blue haired grandmas fighting big ol redneck men to pick up the young man’s family’s tab, offering them shelter, vehicles, gas $, etc.
CNN’s Kagan soliciting other first person video–how about everybody who’s seen this one contacting ‘em now!
anyway, you would’ve been tickled to see the little blue haired grandmas fighting big ol redneck men to pick up the young man’s family’s tab, offering them shelter, vehicles, gas $, etc.
I love that, cbl!
cbl at 19 — that’s a great story. :) No matter how screwed up things get, that’s the part of this nation that remains rock solid — and the aspect of things that gives me hope. That human connection to one another in a time of need — it’s just been so downplayed the past few years that we lose sight of it sometimes, don’t we?
Great video and thanks for the post Christy.
OT for those who asked who the good reporter was in dubya’s pissy presser the other day, Peter Baker at the wapo takes a ? on it today and gives us the gent’s name:
Good day sunshine. I’m smiling all over the place! Looks as though Jari Askins will be our new Lt. Gov. She won yesterday in the run-off. That will give us a Democrat for governor (which we already have) and a Democratic Lt. Gov. in the fall when Askins wins again. Our state sometime ago seceded from sanity and became very red. There’s a change a blowin’ here. Next on the list, is to get rid of war monger, Tom Coburn.
cbl @ 19
he-he… the uniforms must be getting better… when I was in my dress blues out in public, I was often mistaken for a bus driver and asked for directions… ;-)
CNN news alert: Connecticut’s secretary of the state says Sen. Joe Lieberman has gathered enough signatures to run for re-election with a new party.
What’s still burning my eyes from Scout’s video, all these minutes later:
650,000 LOUISIANANS DISPLACED
From HuffPo — The Katrina anniversary; what to expect next (from the media).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..27796.html
Excellent, OK K! When’s your/our next shot at that doofus Inhofe?!
cbl @ 19
CBL – What’s the name/ location of your restaurant?
Okay, I have a question, and maybe someone here can point me in the correct direction.
I watched Spike Lee’s documentary. I think it’s the most powerful thing I have ever, ever seen, and I hope that it will be brought out on DVD sooner than later so more people will have a chance to see it. Here’s the question: What can I do? As one woman, is there anything I can do to help the people of the Gulf Coast? We sent money. What next?
Is there a compiled list anywhere, such as “five things you could do to help”? I realize that may be a very simplistic and perhaps stupid thing to ask, but I’m wondering. There will be people who wish to help. What can they do? Would it help at all to contact our elected officials and demand (once more,) that they intervene?
I’m mystified as to how anyone could turn their backs on the plight of those on the Gulf Coast. I’m also wondering how those who’ve been criminally negligent in the drowning of NOLA have kept themselves out of jail, but I’m hoping that will be addressed at the polls in November.
What can we do?
-S
p.s. Out of all those stories, the one I just can’t get over is the little girl, left alone in a house with multiple younger brothers and sisters while her mother lay dead in the bedroom. I can’t imagine how scared she must have been. I wondered what happened to her after they were rescued.
Short Ride just got certified.
I’m wondering what BushCo is cooking up right now to distract us from the one year anniversary of Katrina, Bush’s American Disaster?
and your little dog -
the restaurant was an old family owned steakhouse in Pflugerville @ Three points – Charlie’s
I’ve since moved on to one closer to home in Round Rock
OT- Michael Scheuer interview on the question of our national security. This is a campaign goldmine:
http://harpers.org/sb-seven-mi…..77744.html
Samurai Sam @
11
Dragging today after watching it too…. After the Radio Talk Show host broke down and starts crying the first night, I sat there with a box of tissue. It broke my heart again.
Last year during Katrina, my boyfriend was in Spain getting his son settled as an exchange student. Tons of coverage of the disaster on the news across Europe. He said that they were shocked at how badly the disaster was handled. They focused on all the dead bodies laying around for days and weeks.
One more nail in America’s standing in the world view. And not much was made of the turning away of help in the US but in Canada & Europe it was a BIG slap.
I haven’t had a chance to watch any of the Spike Lee documentary as yet. Since Fi has been sick, free time has been nonexistent. Am hoping to watch a bit this evening if I can get the chance, but I may have to wait until this weekend. I’ve heard its very powerful stuff from a number of people. Katymine, thanks for the heads up — I’ll be sure to have tissues handy.
and an estimated 1500 still unaccounted for
back to gooperville for a moment – can not believe the efficiency of the noise machine on Monday – by noon, I had heard 5 different versions of the ‘How Much Money is Spike Gonna Make Off This’ meme
confirmed with all 5 that they had not asked the same question of Oliver Stone at the Ticket Booth over the week end
katymine – my daughter was in Berlin at the time – and all were shaking their heads, making comparisons to the Berlin Airlift that saved so many lives
Having never willingly been near Fox News before, I did click over to it some during “Katrina Week” — and thereby happened to catch live Scout’s clip of Shepard Smith howling his outrage on the Gretna bridge. He was, as a matter of fact, in that same mode every time I caught him from NOLA: almighty pissed and flat screaming it.
Has anybody here watched enough of him this year to report on whether he’s ever been the same since?
I have an hour worth of tape where I drove along the MS. Gulf Coast showing my wife much of the damage a couple of months after the storm. I need to pull it into clips on my computer.
Maybe I can find the time…
;)
CNN – Connecticut’s secretary of the state says Sen. Joe Lieberman has gathered enough signatures to run for re-election with a new party.
Thanks for keeping the spontlight on NOLA!
I can’t say this enough: NOLA is open for business!
Please consider coming to visit for a vacation and spend your hard earned cash in our hotels, restaurants and attractions.
Business has been slow from what I hear and we could use the help.
lotus…
We have not forgotten James Dummkopf Inhofe. Not by a long shot.
“The Deranged Mind of James Inhofe” “Maybe the Dumbest U.S. Senator of them All”
http://www.counterpunch.org/jackson05122004.htm
Oh, my heart aches, all right, but not for the reason you may think. It’s bursting with rage and I for one want to know when the Bush (mal)administration will be held accountable for this debacle.
Then there are the sheriff’s deputies from Gretna. Denying people entry into Gretna from a flood-torn town with no water, food or electricity. It’s not difficult to see it was done to keep poor, black people out of their little affluent, white enclave. I’d love to see prosecution of the entire Gretna sheriff’s department under 18 USC 242. Unfortunately, I know better than to hold my breath.
I’m so enraged I think my head and several vital organs are about to explode.
twolf1 @ 40
Oh, I see it was already reported here. sorry
There was an incredibly informative series of photos taken during and after Katrina by a gifted photographer living in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Limited captions, but it really carried the story of how people who lived there could reasonably expect to stay in their homes – but then the levees busted AFTER the storm, and the flood waters trapped people regardless of their
“worthiness.” It was available for a couple of weeks on that Kodak picture-sharing service, and then all of a sudden it disappeared.
I’ve no idea of the links, or the name of the photographer, but it sure would make a good coffee-table book – as well as a clear explanation of what happened, and why.
I always loved the song “Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans” which some of you may remember as the theme from the excellent but short lived TV show “Frank’s Place”. A sad Katrina aftermath video that plays that tune is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipiOVNmFEg0
FWIW, after reading the receding floodwaters described as a “toxic gumbo”, I composed this tune” last September.
thank you very much Scout, and you Christy
Strategerie,
A list from HBO with, hopefully, local input:
http://www.hbo.com/docs/progra…..urces.html
9/1/05 I spent the day flipping from cable channel to channel & listening to Air America in absolute horror, disbelief & shame that Americans could be left for days without water, food.
The media was there on the ground but no FEMA or other fed help. If the media could get in, there is no excuse for the “can do, greatest country in the world” not to move heaven & earth to drop food & water.
A real leader would have gotten on the phone, blistering ears, & said, “Get this done NOW”. A real leader would have been there.
Media, etc calling displaced americans “refuges” was shocking.
All those blaming the victims & making excuses for bush & co should imagine experiencing an almost identical disaster in their community or city (& trapped, not able to get out) & then answer the question if they thought they needed & deserved the help of our federal government or are they sure their local gov could handle a massive crisis all by itself.
World opinion of the US means as much as feelings of American citizens to this adm, not a damn thing.
Casino rebuilding along the coast is coming along quite nicely. Gotta keep those priorities straight.
one point in this video that should be hammered over and over is that the levees that failed were FEDERAL levees… Bush will attack the local officials at the one year anniversary…
[Way Way OT - I just heard a rumor that Microsoft is going to buy YouTube? I really hope that isn’t true.]
SoulCatcher @ 38
If you do, SoulCatcher, I will absolutely commit to watching it, no matter how it hurts me.
Some dear old family friends of ours lived in Pass Christian when I was a child, and we visited them a few weeks before Camille (’69, I think that was, right?). Their house was in a lovely neighborhood two blocks in from the Gulf. “Miz Adele” reported to my mom that her Steinway baby grand had floated around two corners into the kitchen during Camille.
But I have no doubt that that whole neighborhood (gorgeous caladiums everywhere) is either at the bottom of the Gulf or riding the Gulf Stream to Cornwall by now.
We were discussing Katrina last weekend when someone produced a copy of Bill Clinton’s autobiography and read the paragraph where he talked about the earthquake in LA. Clinton, Whitt and half the cabinet were on the ground in California with a plan and money to fund it almost before the ground stopped shaking.
meta @
51
I heard Apple was gonna grab it LOL.
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/08/22…..ed-or-not/
meta @ 34
Meta — thanks for this link. IMO, this is one of the most clear headed discussions of US policy in the ME I’ve read.
From Larry Johnson’s column in TPM Cafe regarding Israel, which was published Sunday:
Yes, just how screwed up are we when we can’t make our own system work even that well? Don’t forget, Hezbollah are dealing with a transportation system that’s in far worse shape than ours was. They probably have better communications, as long as the Israelis aren’t jamming their wireless frequencies, but that would be because they seem to have planned ahead for disaster. What a concept.
Just saw that remark of Johnson’s after reading this column, so I thought I’d share.
meta @ 32
Let’s come up with some guesses, shall we? I say they’ve done too many dodgy ooh scary terrorist plots, what about capturing the #3 al-Q guy?
meta @
32
My guess would be something like this: “Iran! Iran! Iran! terra terra terra ooga-booga ooga-booga 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! yellowcake! Democrats are terra-ists!”
Maybe an elevated threat level and an anthrax scare thrown in for good measure.
But then I’ve been declared certifiably cynical hehe.
OT but OH LOOKY at what’s in CBS’s “Public Eye”:
(emphasis mine)
Just got a “one year later” press release from Lutheran Disaster Response, the pan-Lutheran agency that coordinates the Lutheran emergency relief efforts for US natural disasters. They do great work, and I’ve been a longtime supporter of what they do. Like many groups, they help with the immediate “food and shelter” stuff and coordinating volunteers, but unlike many others, they also are committed to being around for the long haul.
What caught my attention in this press release was this observation from the head of LDR:
I remember hearing from the beginning of this mess that one of the biggest problems for the NOLA restaraunts and other businesses was the lack of rental housing. Sad to say, it doesn’t appear that things have improved much on that count.
Where I grew up, below Folsom Dam in California, they say when the levees give way in the Delta, it will make folks wish they were in New Orleans. And Gov. Schwarzenegger can’t squeeze a measly dime from his fellow Republican to do anything to fix those decrepit levees. Time to terminate the terminator. I mean what good is he? Republicans really are pathetic.
These are the fucking morons that are going to “keep America safe” from terrorists. God, I forgot how soul crushinlgy livid and angry I had been watching the entire fiasco unfold.
From Bush flying over NO like a king looking down on the peasants, to his horrendously patronizing mother, to the media repeating ’sniper’ rumors without any facts to back them up, to the racist spam e-mails claiming that planefuls of gun toting, drug carrying evacuees arrived to “bring crime” to the nice white folks.
The city that was the birthplace of one of the greatest American cultural traditions, jazz, was allowed to sink into the ocean.
Bush’s FIRST response was to waive the Davis-Bacon Act to allow mega-contractors to hire laborers at well below prevailing wages.
Yup, “Mission Fucking Accomplished” in New Orleans, George W., Deadeye Dick, and Grover Norquist.
-GSD
Cujo359 — and of course, US policies are even putting up ideological roadblocks to relief agencies getting relief to the Lebanese — all because we don’t want to legitimize the Hezbollah — the de facto provider of most government services in southern Lebanon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08…..r=homepage
The entire planet will have a huge sigh of “relief” when the Bush Administration is finally brought down. How long?
One night on I think Kos there was an interview with a guy who said he worked at the White House.
He refused to verify that and also refused to answer certain questions that might identify him. A lot of questions were of the “How can they get away with…” variety. He said working there was totally soul-killing, and that there was no easy way to turn things around.
Further he said that people would speak up about things when there was an investigation and you could see there would be consequences. So the trick was not to speak up too early and get fired, but not to wait so long that you go to jail. Hit it right in the middle as a cooperating witness.
But the part that really struck me was about Katrina. He was completely horrified at the WH response and baffled at the lack of followup or investigations. “I still can’t believe we got away with that.”
Now you may or may not believe this fellow really worked at the WH, but I felt it had the ring of truth.
WE STILL CAN INVESTIGATE KATRINA. LET’S DO IT.
The insipid Harold Ford Jr. is off life support:
Ah, Harold Ford Jr.
CNBC’s favorite Dem.
Shamelessly moved from EPUville, in case some missed it.
HotFlash @ 169
Thanks HotFlash!
lotus 59: nice find. That darn, Jane Hamsher. Why of why did she ask us rabid, venomous lambshers to be so reasonable and polite. I feel so restrained!
I note there’s no byline. Who is the author of “Public Eye” and why doesn’t she/he call herself/himself “personal viewpoint?”
OKK, I completely agree. Bush flat out refused to send money to California to fix those levees. And Arnold is seeing a big positive increase in the polls. It’s mind-boggling inconceivable to me that people want this nitwit around another term.
meta, I hope cathy’s still around to catch your Scheuer link.
P.S. Howya been, cha?
Ooops, scarecrow, I left this off the bottom of that CBS clipping:
Posted by Vaughn Ververs at 11:55 AM : August 16, 2006
I guess this idea was a flash in the pan:
MR. RUSSERT: In order to rebuild New Orleans, we can’t just repair the levees, because they could get washed away again.
DR. VAN HEERDEN: That’s right.
MR. RUSSERT: What has to be done in order to guarantee the safety and security of a future city?
DR. VAN HEERDEN: In tandem with rebuilding the city, we need to restore the coast. We know how to do it. There’s a very good plan on the books. If you think about it this way, it’s a $16 billion job to repair the coast. It’s a 10-year project. If you ran that out of New Orleans, you would generate an enormous amount of jobs. Each one of those restoration dollars then gets multiplied through the economy six to seven times. So if you really want to bring back New Orleans, not only physically but economically, get the restoration project going. That’s going to be the long-term protection for not only New Orleans but a large part of coastal Louisiana.
MR. RUSSERT: And in order to do this, in order to get the best minds in America and the best minds in the world, should there be creation of a federal authority, if you will, to oversee it, incorporating the views of local, state, federal experts, urban designers, engineers, the very best minds, and have someone in charge like Hoover who could put down the hammer and get things done?
MR. BARRY: Yeah. I mean, I think there needs to be some unified overseeing authority that does have the power to cut through the red tape and some of the amazing inefficiencies that we’ve seen this time around.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9240461/
God knows, we wouldn’t want to to anything with long term soundness and efficiency.
Lieberman-Murkowski in 2008
Because one loser isn’t enough.
-GSD
lotus 59 — and the highlighted quote is wonderful, isn’t it? Those crazy leftwingers, creating a tool by which readers could give feedback to reporters! Communists.
One wonders what the “rightwingers” would use for a tool to provide feedback. Last time I checked, it was ropes and firing squads, but note those blogger sites aren’t mentioned.
Spike Lee’s documentary was phenomenal. I was so happy that the captured all sorts of different facets of N.O. culture and communities when showing the impacts. That city has a LOT of good people who have suffered immeasurably.
When I lived in south La., there was a unofficial state slogan folks used to put on t-shirts and bumper stickers: Louisiana – Third World and Proud. We had the heat, humidity, bugs, huge reptiles, “interesting” politics, and overwhelming poverty. Now, they have the complete third world profile. Their suffering is largely ignored by the Powers That Be, except for a little window dressing here and there.
It makes me crazy when people dismiss the folks stuck in the flood by saying they should have evacuated. Good Lord, until you go through a couple of hurricane seasons on the Gulf Coast or south Atlantic, you really just shouldn’t talk like you’re an expert.
When you see the white puff ball of a storm forming coming off Africa, you watch that sucker. You also notice the little puffs forming in the Caribbean and over the Gulf. Once the storm gains a footing and the Weather Service predicts that it’s coming at you, you have a LONG series of decisions. You may need days to close up and get a safe distance from the coast. But in that same period of time, the storm could veer and not land anywhere near you. Then you’ve screwed up your whole house/business and spent money you probably don’t have on gasoline and hotel rooms (unless you’re lucky enough to impose on a friend somewhere in land). How many times do you do this in a year? Storms seem to preferentially hit a certain piece of coast in a given year (must be some kind of steering currents). I evacuated four times one year and ended up with a maxed out credit card and eating generic ramen noodles for a while because of it. If the storm is a cat 1, you may just say heck with it and ride the thing out. Well and good, but a cat 1 can grow fast and sometimes those “wimpy” 76 mph winds are replaced with something much stronger and you’re stuck with your decision.
People talk about how scary tornados are. The sound of the wind can be terrifying, but it’s over in minutes. When you ride out a hurricane, the winds go on and on and on. After a certain mph, the wind sounds like a living things screaming outside your house. Screaming and coming after you. It makes you understand all those dark folk tales, it really does. The screaming wind is punctuated by crashes, bangs, flashes (transformers going are really dramatic), and the sound of metal being deeply scraped. This goes on for HOURS. The eye is the worst, though. There’s this quiet spell, but you know deep down that this only marks the halfway point. After each hurricane I had the misfortune of riding out (always by accident or an act of fate, such as the roads or bridges closing earlier than I’d expected), left me feeling like every nerve ending in my body had been scraped raw.
In the documentary, I think it was Mayor Nagin that cited a figure that you can expect roughly 60% of a population to voluntarily evacuate when asked to. I would suggest that the percentage goes up and down with the catagory of the storm. Cat 1, less folks leave. Cat 3 , more will go.
Who stays? Let’s skip over emergency response folks of various types who stay to help people and also skip the tv folks who drive in to cover the storm.
- People who intended to leave, but got fouled up somehow (like having a storm strengthen overnight unexpectedly and make landfall early) and got stuck in town or on the road. In Rita, people from Galveston (despite a tiered regional evacuation plan) in many cases never made it past Houston. Friends of mine followed all the rules and spent 17 hours in the car to reach the north side of the Houston Loop (the Beltway equivalent there) and gave up. They found shelter there in Houston, still in the potential path of the storm.
- People who are hard headed or crazy and insist that they’ve never evacuated and never will. I don’t get these folks, but I knew a few. A minority, thank goodness, but they always seem to show up on the news.
- People to sick or too old to get out on their own. Sadly enough, there are more people that we want to admit who eek by on their own with no family who either cares about them or is close enough to help get them out.
- People who can’t afford to evacuate and have to take their chances. If you don’t have family or a friend within a day’s ride or so to stay with, evacuation is EXPENSIVE. Hotels, gasoline, eating on the road, all of that costs real money. It’s not a good idea to try and camp because wherever you get to within a day is likely to feel some effects of the storm. Do you want to be in a tent when the edge of a hurricane goes over you? I knew a LOT of people who fell into this group. They’d watch the storm and see how big of a gamble they could take.
Enough, enough. This comment block is too long already.
Thanks for the heads up, Lotus. Looks like we’re already “clogging” up their mailboxes. Why do these stenos take such an adversarial attitude? We’re doing all their research for them!
scarecrow @ 68
Bylines are at the bottom of each PublicEye post – this one is by Vaughn Ververs.
What grabbed me was that “Email this story” button at the end of every PublicEye post. What’s up with that? Next thing you know, people will be stuffing email inboxes with copies of PublicEye blog entries . . .
Paging TRex – gotta topic yet for tonight?
As insipid as Harold Ford is, I at least know he wasn’t spending his youth playing Dr. Mengele to neighborhood kittens.
-GSD
cbl @ 32
Is Charlie’s famous for their chicken-fried steak? Do you walk through the bar to get to the dining room?
Heh, scarecrow, you funny.
(sob)
scarecrow @ 68
…and as if WE were the ones who got the facts wrong on Abramoff money going to Democrats! Dredges up the firestorm that has left Deborah Howell covering local stories and Monday Night Football appearances by WaPo sportswriters.
I would, however, be interested to know how “Spotlight” forwarded stories look like in TradMed journos’ inboxes. Has any friendly insider given us a peek? Will these emails be easy to ID and mass-delete if a horrid “swarm” arrives?
=============
Had Enough, Alaska?
=============
Peterr — nice catch:
That sounds like a netroots project. But let’s send them to PublicEye.
lotus @
52
I was born a few months before Camille. My mom and dad told me many stories about it.
Here’s a brief story I wrote after I went down to the coast after Katrina hit. My Katrina experience
Somewhere I have a link to a clip of someone who went to downtown Gulfport and filmed a few hours after the storm hit. I’ll have to post it later.
As to Pass Christian, most of it is damaged severely. The big older houses that were higher up were damaged but most were still stnading. However, the area east of that through Long Beach is just foundations and a few old oak trees.
GSD @ 76
Good … point.
lotus @ 52
Pass Christian was inundated. My boyfriend’s family had a second home there. They had water on the third floor. Everything was lost. FWIW there is no compensation or assistance for second homes that were lost.
op99 @ 9:26
I bet he got a neck rub too, like Merkel did.
I live in an area under minimal to nonexistent risk for floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, typhoons, monsoons, drought, mudslide or avalanche. I like that I don’t have to worry or insure against most of them (although my homeowners policy will pay for many should they freakishly occur). I’d be very hesitant to move to a locale constantly falling victim to the above tragedies and natural disasters. I’d also think very seriously about moving away from such an area if my life was damaged or frequently disrupted. Ties to family, land, culture, history or work seem trivial if I’m dodging bullets, stepping in shit, starving, dehydrated and ultimately broke and homeless because I just loved living below sea level in a hurricane plagued floodplain. Buy a damned house on elevated ground in western Pennsylvania, central Ohio, Tennessee or other places where the worst you may have to deal with is an occasional tornado. Residing on a steep hillside in southern California alternately visited by torrential rains and fire won’t engender my sympathy when you and 50 of your neighbors travel with your living room 500 feet to the highway below. Close New Orleans down and be a little smarter when looking for the next place to sign a lease or buy a home.
OP99 at 77: Gosh, that Hindracke just brings tears to my eyes every time he talks about our Prez. He really captures the human qualities of this administration, doesn’t he?
a brief moment of sanity amidst it all a year ago -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJS69GJgTYY
oh, and I heart Gilliard:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot……ou-so.html
the very first ‘rant’ I had encountered on blogs – thinking . . .at last, my people
and your little dog – yep and yep – are you nearby ? have been thinking of organizing a drinking liberally for us ‘burb folks (round rock, georgetown, p-ville, etc.) suspect there’s plenty of us
OT -thinkprogress – FACT CHECK: Ned Lamont Does Not Support ‘Immediate Withdrawal’ From Iraq
twolf1 @
54
twolf1, that’s funny. They are like the cutest girl at the prom. I happened to see them on Charlie Rose last week and they are really flattered by all the suitors but don’t seem particularly ready to give it up yet. We’ll see. It still really makes me happy to see all this innovation carried out by cool small-timers.
lina,
DR. VAN HEERDEN – definitely one of the good guys – b/c of the media mood at the time, he was allowed to explain highly technical stuff to the folks and did a great job! was so glad to see him get some Spike love
lotus –
The thousand petal lotus is the symbol of the crown chakra. In Hindu and Buddhist tradition, this is the point where we connect to the divine.
When the seventh or crown chakra opens, the experience can be described as being at the center of an unfolding thousand petal lotus. mmmmm . . .
GSD @ 78
Ford’s what I call a nose-holder – if that’s the best you end up with as Democratic standard-bearer, well, ya just have to hold your nose and support him.
steve duncan @ 87
… or move to Houston, and be welcomed with “open arms” one year later, with Houstonians complaining that you’ve caused their crime rate to skyrocket. What about “home” do people not understand?
This recommendation that people move to safer ground is extremely unknowing. Have you never heard of the New Madrid fault, Steve?
TeddySF at 81:
I think Verve– is baiting us, hoping for another Howelling. It’s like Gerstein (sp?) baiting the Lamont campaign. Kill’em with responsibility – they hate it when we’re reasonable, cause it makes their heads explode with cognitive dissonance.
We ended up in Alabama, and I know I’ve said it before, but those people opened their hearts to us in a big way. The town we were in had about a hundred evacuees and they organized to provide us with everything we’d left behind. We are back in New Orleans now, but I will never forget those people and their kindness.
Thanks, SoulCatcher — heading to your story as soon as I do this:
Are y’all from the Pass or nearby? Have you been to Picayune, and if so, how bad is it? I know the damage was pretty bad even up above Meridian (my dearest old-lady friend in Jackson had her windows blown out and lost power, and even my cud’n & them way up in STARKVILLE lost power for some days).
Maybe you recall CNN phone-interviewing a haughty-sounding B&B owner in PC before landfall, who sniffed that his fine old brick mansion on the Gulf had ridden out Camille just fine, thankyouverymuch, so he wasn’t the least worried about Katrina. If CNN ever found him after the storm, I missed it. Does this sound familiar to you at all, and if so, do you have any idea what went with that guy and his wife? (Bet I can guess.)
cbl @ 88
Hey, I’ve been to your Charlie’s then! Yum. White tables with blue trim somewhere? It’s been a while ago, and I must have been coming back from some dog event at Hutto. My stomach’s growling.
We actually live outside of Elgin, but our store is in Austin. We lived in central Austin for more than 30 years until our fine old house burned down Thanksgiving of 2000.
What I’d like is an FDL drinking or eating gathering for Central Texas folks. Been thinking about suggesting same but am slightly disorganized at the moment.
Bet we could get Hopie to come up from San Antonio for that, too.
lotus @
70
Hey lovely Lotus. I’ve been OK. Really exhausted by work but stepping back a lot to pursue other things. Lots of impending newness on the horizon on many fronts, which I hope will be thrilling. Trying to keep my wits about me in all this outrageous madness that is our so-called government. The anniversay of Katrina and 9/11 are especially heartbreaking. So much wasted time and resources. Hey, I hear Hope is back! Looking forward to hearing from her. How are you, m’dahling?
“This recommendation that people move to safer ground is extremely unknowing. Have you never heard of the New Madrid fault, Steve?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teddy, how often has the New Madrid fault disrupted lives in the last 175 years? Contrast and compare with the disruptions and damage from Atlantic and Gulf hurricanes, California quakes, fires and mudslides and Mississippi River flooding. Maybe you and I should talk over on the “apples and oranges” thread about this issue………….
cbl @ 90
Amen to that too, cbl.
steve duncan @ 101
well, Steve, the sheer number of people you are calling upon to move to “safer ground” is astonishing. Where, for instance, are all the Chicagoans to move, since it is the only US city where residents die EVERY YEAR from both the cold and the heat?
Seems to me we Americans have dispersed ourselves pretty evenly over the unsafe spots on our claimed ground, except of course for you on your rock-solid hill in Pennsylvania. How many of us are you willing to share that hill with, Steve, and for how long?
lemmeseehere, Ververs leaves The Hotline for CBS and Ed Henry leaves Roll Call for CNN. Chuck Todd of The Hotline is now a fixture on the talking head circuit.
all just formerly appearing on cspan’s washington journal.
Teddy, how often has the New Madrid fault disrupted lives in the last 175 years?
Famous last words. But watch what you say there, bud — lotsa folks I love in the New Madrid Big One zone.
steve duncan @ 87
I have lived in areas where floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes are common. And now I live in tornado alley. Seems that if we all moved to places where these things did not happen, it would be mighty crowded. Besides, if we weren’t stroking Bush with his tax cuts for the rich and throwing money down the dry holes of the Bush wars, we could easily provide disaster insurance and relief for those many folks who for whatever reason cannot just pick up and move to the high and safe ground.
From the Department of Josh Marshall’s Place Ain’t all Bad (Art Brodsky Division): Net neutrality? We don’t need no stinkin’ net neutrality!
SoulCatcher @ 38
Thanks for the video… I’ll watch it tonight when I get home. There are particular landmarks I’m looking for. I’ve not been able to find photos of them anywhere to date. Hopefully, you’ve got some pics.
There’s a condo unit just a little to the east of the Old City Cemetery, along the beach and to the west of the Lighthouse. The condo is set back from the road, compared to everything else. The superstructure of the building survived Camille and wasn’t phased by Frederic. It did take some damage from Alicia in ‘86 though.
I’ve also not seen photos of the Lighthouse, other than a section of brick that fell on the inside. I’m also looking for photos of the old high school building on Father Ryan’s. As well as pics of Keesler, the hanger line, the hospital, and main drag from the primary entrance off the beach. Then there’s Nichol’s Middle School near Division. Nichol’s had quite a bit of roof damage from Frederic, so….
meta, I fine (an’ ‘ll be finer when Hopie’s up and typing). Also looking forward to the details of what-all you‘re stirring up!
Here’s something to make you gnash your teeth and rant some more:
http://www.tompaine.com/articl…..litics.php
Samurai Sam @ 11
AGREE. Watch. It.
Someone mentioned a few days ago they were going to try to take a pic of a sign they saw in NO? Watching this heartbreaking documentary last night a certain close up grabbed my attention, it may be the same sign. I wrote it down immediately, it said:
VOTE DEMOCRATIC, we do care.
We’ll keep caring. We care so much we will never give up trying to help OUR country. We care so much we don’t agree with the idea that if things don’t go as well as hoped in this coming election that it’s all over. We care so much we will fight harder and better, we’re already doing it. Because we care about every American, the Katrina victims, the insane wars, each other.
VOTE DEMOCRATIC, we do care.
A message from Rudy Giuliani to “family values” Christian conservative voters.
Please give me your votes dahlings!
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zo…..amp;size=o
-GSD
Teddy, I’m not calling on anyone to move necessarily. I’m saying you knew the risks by moving to or staying in such an area. It’s rather disingenuous to whine and demand money when you made your bed willingly. You strike me as the juror voting to free a killer of his parents, taking heed of his leniency plea seeing as how he was recently orphaned.
Oh, -ck-, thanks for that answer, and ever more thanks for bringing it upstairs here where I’ll see it! Now to go to your linky and study up (right after I get back from SoulCatcher’s)!
and your little dog -
some dog event in hutto ?!!?!! if you’d gone over to the creek and threw a rock, you’d have hit my bedroom (Triple Crown – greatest neighbors – refused boatloads of cash from developers at height of the boom,
yeah, let’s keep a get together in mind – actually found a place in Taylor recently – owned by some ‘merica hatin’ hippies with great food and margaritas – but there’s always City Cafe in Elgin . . . ummm Snicker Pie
And, steve duncan, you strike me as a Gooper.
OT Joe Lieberman got his 7500 signatures approved to be on the ballot in Connecticut. But the AP, at least, is spinning it as Lieberman’s “own independent party”; none of this “Democrat running as an independent” nonsense that Lieberman has been pushing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14482646/
steve duncan @ 112
ah, the YoYo voter: You’re On Your Own!
True, Steve, in the coming Fuedal America, none of us will need to worry about living where we choose. We’ll go where we’re told, or where our boxcar is headed!
spew warning -
Hinderaker on the nyquil infused gaggle on Monday -
“A Bravura Performance”
a brafuehra performance
steve duncan @ 112
My take on this is that most renters don’t know how dangerous their locale is, but are aware of neighborhood dangers, such as crime. Most homeowners are a bit more aware of regional dangers like flooding or tornadoes, etc. But people rent and buy in familiar locales where they can afford housing, not some idealized place safe from any hazards.
steve duncan @ 112
Oh? I must have missed that when you said @ 87
Sounds kind of like moving to me . . .
It’s one thing to say folks need to make intelligent choices, but I’m saddened that you’ve got so little compassion for folks whose choices in life are apparently much more constricted than your own. Most of the trailer parks, flood plain homes, neighborhoods around industrial plants, bayous, and similar locales that I’m familiar with are populated by folks for whom that is about their only option.
I don’t think it’s impossible to both discuss intellegent choices and to show compassion at the same time. In fact, the latter makes the former a whole lot more possible and productive.
steve duncan @
87
Moderators, you might want to delete this, but Steve Duncan, you are clueless. But you won’t remain so for very much longer if things continue the way they’re going. So FUCK YOU in your nice safe home…talking about “you ought to BUY or rent a place in a safer area.” You probably think poverty happens only because people are too lazy to work. Louisiana is a “Right to Work” state and you can work til you’re half dead and still not make ends meet. I’ll pray for you, and ask God to bless you, and I won’t involve myself in the results except to ask the Lord if I can watch, because I know that God gives people what they need.
I just glanced at a headline in the paper. Nagin in Texas asking Katrina refugees to return to N.O..
Why sure, we have a new hurricane season upon us. And No, we haven’t finished cleaning up from the last one. But y’all come back now, we’se fixin’ to do it agin!!!
I can’t believe they re-elected that guy.
New thread, gang
Ed*ard Teller @ 119
Since I rent in a building that survived 1906, should I be eligible in The Next Big Shake for food and water assistance but not housing? There’s no way to unpeel this onion — if folks are hurting, we should help them until the hurt goes away.
Now, re-insuring Malibu hill-sliding homes for the third or fourth time they ride into the Pacific…. if an insurance company is foolish enough to take that risk, more power to them. But I still think my tax dollars should go to rescuing the homeowner’s children trapped within, when the slide happens again.
I can’t understand faulting people with few choices for their choices, though.
hmm– 2nd time in moderation today; have I been bad??? *g*
Back on topic for a refreshing change, still from the Department of Josh Marshall’s Place Ain’t all Bad (Justin Rood Division):
A new book by two Wall Street Journal reporters pinpoints the epicenter of the information bottleneck that rendered federal officials tasked with responding to Katrina particularly stupid and uninformed. The culprit:
No, not the actor, but apparently no more qualified for his position that the actor would have been.
new thread — take a deep breath
my comment waiting in moderation has now disappeared. ;(
Why might many victims of disaster be seemingly stuck where they live? Of course money makes mobility possible. Hmmmm, how do they get and keep more money? Well, for starters spending money on cigarettes and alcohol seriously drains the family bank account. I wonder of forgoing those habits for 5-10 years, by both parents, might save a lot of money and put them in a position to move to safer environs? Maybe paying attention in school, getting good grades and not dropping out or getting pregnant while unmarried and less than 18 years of age would improve their chances in life. How about if you eat right and exercise? Then your obese butt won’t get sick as often, requiring money spent on doctors or lost wages because of the resulting job absenteeism. Before we submit many of these poor souls are blameless victims of bad circumstances let’s examine just exactly how diligent they are in extricating themselves from impending disasters.
angie at 130 — I think that was my fault. I clicked the wrong box. Sorry! Was trying to figure out how to get it back, but I think it’s completely gone. (No one should let me too near complex technology…)
SoulCatcher 81, your story takes my breath away — I was right in that car with you on 49 and coming into Gulfport. The bit about your lost niece/nephew-to-be was especially stark and moving. Jeeminey.
How and where are they all now?
-ck- 91, how lovely (now I know why violet is one of my fave colors, eh?).
Thanks again to you both.
Want to add this about the rumors that YouTube is selling. From an article called Websites that changed the world :
4. youtube.com
Founded: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, 2005, US
[..] “Not all television studios immediately embraced the idea of their archived copyrighted footage being shared. ‘We’re not here to steal,’ insists Chen. ‘When [US television network] NBC asked us to take something down, we did.’ In fact, NBC only last week announced plans to work alongside YouTube, airing exclusive clips and trailers and eventually hoping to post episodes of The Office and Saturday Night Live on it. The company has had several offers to be bought out, but the pair swear they will not sell out. They continue to work out of their San Mateo loft, overseeing 27 employees and developing ways to make the site easier to use while whirling lucrative deals with studios.”
steve duncan– my comment wrt to yours has disappeared.
your latest is so unbelievable that I cannot muster enough calm to respond. Suffice to say it is filled with grotesque generalizations and a profound lack of humanity, imho. There is also a distinct whiff of racism and classicm.
PS– I am glad for you that you are safe, well off, and smart as can be!
cbl @ 113
Cool! I’ll be out there Saturday working (not running) an agility trial our club is putting on.
Unfortunately, it’s hard for us to get to things in Elgin because we’re working in Austin. I haven’t made it to a Bastrop County Dems meeting in six months because I can’t quit that early. :(
steve duncan, ANGIE may be glad for you that you are safe, well off, and smart as can be! — but for the first time in living memory, I see that she and I part company on an issue . . .
Racism? People of all races squander opportunity, abuse their bodies and throw away money. Where in my comment do you detect I suspect someone of any particular color as more susceptible to such failings? As to classism I thought the American dream was the ability of everyone to transcend class distinctions and rise above poverty and squalor? I certainly think residents of any blighted or damaged area have at least some ability and means to improve their lot in life. Do they all rise to the challenge sufficiently? I don’t know. Is it wrong and insensitive to ask if not why not? I don’t think so. Do you have personal shortcomings? Do you ask yourself why you have them and how you can overcome them? Yes? And we can’t ask the same questions of those wanting our time and money and sympathy?
Steve Duncan 128
Ya know, I’ve never been poor, but I’ve sure been desperate and sometimes when nothing else is going for you, cigarettes and alcohol are the only comfort you can find.
Is it good for you? Of course not. But I sure understand why people would turn to it.
s’kay, Christy :)!
I spoke of the obvious lack of reluctance of big business, land developers, and insurers in taking the money of the folks who live in coastal areas of this country. The federal and state and local governments eagerly reap the taxes from these people, too. Both big business and the govt have lied about climate change and done nothing to stop it. Land developers did not seem to care about ruining the natural protections like wetlands while they developed without a conscience. The federal government had a responsibility for those levees. The national guard was supposed to be here– ready and equipped to defend our people in the event of a disaster– not off fighting an illegal war for more oil and opportunity for the military industrial complex. FEMA is funded by all of us and it failed miserably and continues to fail to this day. The wealthy insurance companies are whining and will not do what they have promised to do in their contracts until they exact their pound of flesh from more Americans. There is a whole lot of blame to go around, but the heaping on of blame on the victims still surrounded by the rubble and devastation is just so wrong.
During Katrina my truck was in the shop while I watched the television in horror. My boat, perfect for small rescue situations sat in the front yard, at the ready, yet unable to do anything. I couldn’t sleep, I just wanted to help.
The Spike Lee Documentary speaks volumes and the most horrific tales will never make it to our televisions. If we look at our overall disdain for poor and helpless people in our own backyard, the gulf coast. Imagine the treatment of Iraqi and Afghani’s.
We have many great people in this country but we are no longer a great nation. Saying it doesn’t make it so. Like our political situation we need new definitions of greatness. We need leadership and a national cause (or two or three) to work towards. Like energy independence and other steps that promote the common good.
The voices of the lake give me hope. I am so glad we found each other.
. . . and your little dog, too @ 139
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, and sometimes the lonely, homely, maladjusted loner with poor interpersonal skills rapes himself a woman to assuage his demons. Doesn’t make it right.
Is Charlie’s famous for their chicken-fried steak? Do you walk through the bar to get to the dining room?
In New Orleans the bar usually comes first. Especially in neighborhood restaurants.
God-the neigborhoods are gone. The dialects are gone. I used to be able to tell which part of town people were from. Uptown, Gentilly, Ninth Ward. All of that has been washed away. New Orleans was one of the last bastions of true humanity in this country. Not predicated on the notion of “I need to buy more shit and I need it now”.
Being poor is not easy but it doesn’t mean you are not happy. New Orleanians were happy. And they had a strong family networks. Generations of strength.
Strategerie hits the nail on the head – What can each of us do to help? I don’t have much, but I am willing to help in any way that I can, just tell me what to do. Christy, and Jane demonstrated the power of the blogosphere to help Ned Lamont win in CT – now organize a national drive to help rebuild New Orleans and all the shattered lives that Katrina left, aided and abetted by the criminals that are driving us all deeper into ruin. I am not talking about contributing to any psuedo charities that pay an exorbitant salary to themselves and give 12% to the victims of Katrina – I am talking about something real, like paying a huge construction crews down with the right equipment and enough materials to start a real cleanup and rebuilding effort, which is what we all though FEMA would do and has still failed to do. How about it ladies? Tell us what we can do to make something like this happen, to show that real Americans take care of each other, especially the poorest and least among us.
31 Strategerie says:
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:27 am *
Okay, I have a question, and maybe someone here can point me in the correct direction.
I watched Spike Lee’s documentary. I think it’s the most powerful thing I have ever, ever seen, and I hope that it will be brought out on DVD sooner than later so more people will have a chance to see it. Here’s the question: What can I do? As one woman, is there anything I can do to help the people of the Gulf Coast? We sent money. What next?
Is there a compiled list anywhere, such as “five things you could do to help”? I realize that may be a very simplistic and perhaps stupid thing to ask, but I’m wondering. There will be people who wish to help. What can they do? Would it help at all to contact our elected officials and demand (once more,) that they intervene?
I’m mystified as to how anyone could turn their backs on the plight of those on the Gulf Coast. I’m also wondering how those who’ve been criminally negligent in the drowning of NOLA have kept themselves out of jail, but I’m hoping that will be addressed at the polls in November.
What can we do?
-S
p.s. Out of all those stories, the one I just can’t get over is the little girl, left alone in a house with multiple younger brothers and sisters while her mother lay dead in the bedroom. I can’t imagine how scared she must have been. I wondered what happened to her after they were rescued.
Steve at 142 — I have very little tolerance for criminals or slackers. But I also have a very low tolerance for someone taking an extreme example to hammer someone with for sport — especially when they have dug in their heels and refuse to acknowledge that several sides of this argument have legitimate points. Nastiness is not appreciated. Everyone move on to the next thread and take a deep breath — don’t make me get cranky.
Mother Bear at 144 — we’ve done a number of posts along those lines. Click on the Katrina link in the topical area and you’ll find several posts with lists of organizations on the ground in the Gulf Coast and NOLA regions that would love some help.
Christy, we all love the blog and hope harm doesn’t come to you or yours. I’m trying to create a lil’ thought here running deeper than “Oh, those poor people!”. Yeah, Bush is criminally insane and needs shown the gallows. Sure, New Orleans and its residents probably deserve all the help we can lend. I like reading your posts so do me a favor. Don’t go standing in front of a moving train. Somebody might prevail upon me to feel bad for you and help pay for your funeral………
“enough materials to start a real cleanup and rebuilding effort”
Unfortunately, where are you going to haul all the debris to?? That is one huge issue. Then it is also illegal for the feds, state, or city, to cross property lines and remove the debris without some serious court wrangling.
Then, considering that many or the residences that were destroyed were rental properties. How can you justify forcing a land owner to put something on their property that they don’t want to have there?? The city, state, or feds could buy the property owners out, provided they are willing and can reach an agreeable amount. But, if they’re not, are you going to force turn over through imminent domain??
Steve Duncan, I will apologize to you for using the F word. Your comment made me furious. I own the house I live in in New Orleans. Our insurance company was very quick to take its high premium but it took them nine MONTHS to honor their contract with us. During all that time, the house was sitting here while our loss of use funds were dwindling because we had to maintain separate housing in another location so that my grandchildren and my son could go to school (there were no schools here) and continue to make our mortgage and insurance payments. Now that they’ve finally paid, we realize that if we start the repairs, we’ll go broke in the middle, because the money that needed to be used to let us live somewhere else while the repairs are being made was used up just in living somewhere else for nine months, making house payments on a house that we can’t use. Meantime, there’s a FEMA trailer sitting behind the house which supposedly sleeps six. There are seven people living in my household, eight if you count the neighbor who is staying with us.
I work. I eat right. I don’t smoke, I drink an occasional glass of wine, I pay my taxes and I pay my bills. I still don’t know where we go from here. The housing market is iffy…and if we can’t sell, then we can’t leave.
I’m not asking anybody for a handout. I’m asking government to do what they’re supposed to do, what I’ve paid taxes for them to do. The infrastructure needs to be repaired. The Corps of Engineers admitted in April that the levees failed due to flaws in their design. The clean-up and rebuilding contracts go to large corporations who are NOT giving us our money’s worth, just because they’re somebody’s gravy train or crony. Nobody’s holding them accountable for their profiteering. I have story after story…personal stories…about that.
My husband has been back here since a couple of weeks after Katrina, trying to salvage our life. He’s a man on the edge and I stay worried about him. Neither of us can sleep. Everytime we try to move forward, it’s like we go two steps sideways and three back, because nobody in the government, the insurance industry, and the corporations who hold these big contracts wants to do their job. Why should they, when this administration…from the top down…does any oversite to be sure the American taxpayers are getting their money’s worth?
It’s easy for you to say “close down New Orleans” when you have no stake in it, own no property here, and don’t have to worry about where you might go, and how you’ll pay for it.
Steve Duncan at 147 — I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn’t mean some physical harm to me with that funeral comment. Because that would prompt me to make a call to some of my FBI buddies and I don’t want to have to do that. I’m just going to assume that it was something poorly phrased — and that you meant something other than what I just read.
If I am mistaken, you just let me know.
steve duncan at 147– wtf???
Ah Christy, too abstruse for you? You see, in my words you represented New Orleans, the train is Katrina and all that sympathy and funeral money is what I’m supposed to part with because you decided the tracks were such a dandy place to take a walk. It’s called metaphor. Common literary device. Can be tailored in its complexity and nuance to the audience you’re addressing. Misjudged my audience.
steve duncan @
152
hauteur ill-becomes you. Maybe the audience is judging you all too well !
wow, you certainly know how to be rude steve.
(backing away from the keyboard now)
*ilson46201 @ 150
If this were my blog I would have banned his ip already. You folks are the epitome of restraint hehe. I’ll say no more on the subject, as it would no doubt lead to pearl clutching and vapors :)
is that death toll of (1464 i think) the federal toll? Is it accurate? what are people saying?
Hey. I drink and smoke. Is there a problem here?
steve duncan — no, I think I got your reference just right, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to clarify yourself with churlish clarity. You never fail to disappoint.
I’m in Indianapolis and New Orleans is my seaport ! A city to service the goods moving from river traffic of one of the greatest rivers of the world into the open sea. New Orleans isn’t a whim or a museum — it’s a societal necessity to support transport of goods from much of Middle America. New Orleans is the 4th or 5th biggest seaport in the world. Fuck the French Quarter. Workers homes are needed to support the warehouses and docks!
*ilson46201 @ 159
A lot of people I talk to on a daily basis are wondering if Halliburton and friends want to kill the city so they can have the port.
Finally found time to watch the video.
Numbing.
LindyH @ 160
Some residents of the 9th brought that up on Spike Lee’s HOB special last night. They showed signs on telephone polls saying “We buy houses for cash” along with a phone #. It was implied that these were “trump land barons” wanting the land to build an industrial complex with a port — that the government was scheming with big industry.
Again not to defend Steve Duncan but he was speaking metaphorically. He may not be funny or even clever, but that doesn’t mean he should as yet be banned.
I can’t help but think back to when this blog was newer and we would have some great back and forth discussions with everyone shaking hands when it was all over. I miss those days, but I guess it was inevitable once this site grew so large. Sigh…
not to worry — the only folk that are banned permanently here are repeat winger-trolls that post shit like: you commie sluts are going to hell –HAHAHA
Obstreprous comments may however be deleted on the spot to maintain civility…
Steve Duncan
It seems to me, what with galloping global warming increasingly affecting weather patterns you depend upon for your obvious comfort, growing seasons for crops to feed and house you, human migration patterns that may cramp your style rather more than you’d planned for…
!whoopsie!
Not all crystal balls come with a lifetime guarantee, laddie. Are you a gambling man?
I do fear your chances of being able retain that smug attitude are diminishing every year you remain on this planet, if not by the hour.
I wouldn’t adopt too nobler-than-thou a pose on that pinnacle of wisdom you’ve concocted. You might be needing some sort of lifeline yourself one of these fine days if, heaven forbid, you get blown off by an errant storm and sucked down a sewer.
Stop preening that precious ego. It may just be plated and not sterling after all – hate to see you burnish all the finish off’n the thing a-fore you’ve fully tested your wings!
Besides, a little humility and intellectual curiosity is a good thing. A lot is even better.
Go see Gore’s movie, and PAY ATTENTION!
THE MAN KNOWS WHAT HE’s TALKING ABOUT!
Others have commented enough on the apparent depth of your understanding about the world around you. I defer to them and suggest you read this whole thread, then bookmark it. You may want to revisit their wisdom some day when your eyes are fully open.
Have a nice day. No. Really.
Then take the time to sit down and list all the things ‘n stuff that made it a nice day for you, all the resources and folks responsible for every last bit of it, down to the last ice cube, tasty meal, fluffy pillow, and garbage pick-up. Ponder on it awhile. It won’t kill ya, and it might help cure what ails ya.
I feel so helpless. I want to do something. Move back to NOLA.
Help my family. Help my city. I wonder how long the people I love can stand to live this way. And my family members are some of the lucky ones. They have homes or have purchased new ones. I cannot image being torn apart by the callous nature of the evacuation. How does a person feel after spending three days on a roof top and then boarding a plane not being told were it is going? I am beside myself with anger, frustration and sadness. And all PREVENTABLE. So preventable is seems planned. The same people that will soon bomb Iran are the same people that let New Orleans drown.
steve duncan @
152
Hey Steve – “Misjudged my audience” – indeed!
Won’t you please just go gently away into the ethers of the tubes and find an audience that suits and appreciates you?
tommy yum @ 157
**grin** No, tommy. I was responding to something that Duncan person said about New Orleanians drinking and smoking instead of planning for the future.
Reverse EPU. ( with the permission of The Omniscient One himself)
Evil Parallel Universe says
August 23rd, 2006 at 12:20 pm*
I posted over the weekend – late night on Saturday I think – in response to Astralplame’s question of whether FDL had changed. Since I’ve been here a relative long time, I responded that I thought it had: that it is too self-congratulatory and hagiographic and that “facts” are simply accepted as true without support; and not in good ways.
I agree with all that Immanentize wrote, but think the issue goes beyond ad hominim attacks – but that disagreement with the opinions expressed in an article are met, even without ad hominims, with derision if not contempt from some of the commentariate, whose self assumed role these days is to cheerlead and “protect” the authors – and I am not simply referring to attacks on trolls, who deserve what they get.
With the result being a self-referential cool kids’ clique snidely making derisive jokes and comments about the dimwitted masses and how dumb everyone else is if they dont get it or agree.
I’m not against humor or snark, or contempt and derision when due – but not in place of, or at the expense of, the honest and open discussion of ideas.
I haven’t been around much the past couple of weeks b/c I felt the need to hold my tongue fingers. That if I expressed the opinion that I didn’t think a post was as snarkoliciously brilliant as the rest I would simply be ad hominimally (is that a real word) attacked; or if I questioned the consistency of what the commentariate finds offensive and why the same thing would happen. And like Imm, it is not that I can’t be as harsh or crude as the next poster in the thread (I’m actually confident in my ability to be harsher and cruder), but that’s not why I first started coming here or commentating, or why I stayed.
lotus @ 99
Hi,
My friend Karen’s entire family lives in Picayune. She grew up there. I’m not sure how it must appear to those living there, but when she showed me the book of pre-and-post Katrina photos the local paper compiled, we both cried.
-S
lotus @
133
lotus, there’s alot to relate about where all my relatives are. My account covers a small piece of the ordeal.
Here’s a rundown of the experiences of my relatives and a fellow employee (the ones that suffered). By the way, I live in Memphis, TN and have for about 11 years now but I have lots of relatives in Gulfport, etc.
1) One aunt (from my mom’s side) in New Orleans, who had retired two weeks before Katrina came in, had water in her house up the ceiling. She lost everything. Fortunately she was on vacation when Katrina hit. Her house was gutted and stripped down to the framing and sold to a young couple. She did get some insurance money. She’s living with my uncle in Gulfport and she’s trying to come up with money, etc to buy some land from my cousin and build a house north of Gulfport.
2) Another aunt and her husband in New Orleans evacuated before Katrina hit…but they came to stay at my uncle’s (the one above). Not the best of moves. Fortuantely they were renting their house so they *only* lost all their possessions that insurance covered for the most part. She’s trying to do something similar to my other aunt. However, she just got some new bad news: she was diagnosed with Hogkin’s Lymphoma, stage 2.
3) My brother and sister-in-law were lucky and suffered no damage but they sold their home and moved to Pulaski, TN.
4) A fellow co-worker who lived in Long Beach had his house suffer major damage. He’s just about done fixing things and is about to sell. He’s moved to Nashville with his wife and kids.
Apart from that most everyone else has been in good shape except for simple home damage. One of my cousins (up in Saucier) had no damage at all except for losing a few shingles and having one tree fall down.
I didn’t lose anyone which is the good thing.
Thanks, Strategerie and SoulCatcher. What I’d give to hear y’all’s accents, but my mind’s ear fills them in nicely.
S, my momma taught music in the Picayune high school right after she graduated from “the Dubya.” Was there long enough to learn a mean shrimp Creole and to date a boy from the J.C. Higgins family, who took out speedboat-riding on “the Guff,” I hear. But pretty quickly she went on back up to Amory and met my daddy. I still have a soft spot in my heart for Picayune, though, and remember with fondness savoring my very first po’boy there, on our way to my very first look at NOLA … call it 45 years ago.
SC, that’s just almost too much to take in in one sitting, isn’t it? And I haven’t heard a fraction of your family’s trauma yet. Times how many hundreds of thousands? My God.
Both of y’all, thank you, God bless, and please let me know how they’re all coming from time to time, okay?
Christi please ask her for some video of those same streets today. Those pics would make a remarkable political ad for anyone running from the Democratic Party or anyone whose opponent voted NO on Katrina bills. That money is appropriated. Why haven’t they spend it? If they’ve had no money to rebuild, I’d imagine that it looks like it did in the video with some of the debris cleaned up. Disgusting!
I’ve been listening to Bill Bennett and Laura Ingram over the past two weeks. Why? I want to hear their take on things and listen to their remarkable !@#$ about Iraq, the NSA wiretap case, etc. Wow, they can spin. Both of them are masters.
Today or yesterday on Laura’s show she brought up the topic (no references – sorry) that there are a lot of problems in Houston with drugs, crime and ya da ya da in Houston that can be directed back to the arrival of Katrina victims upon their evacuation.
So was she saying “…the black folks who didn’t die in the hurricane came to Houston and now crime is up?” She didn’t say “black folks, but it was implied. The stupid $%&*$%^!!!
Any member of the House or Senate who has VOTED NO on any aspect of Katrina spending should be removed from his or her seat without an opportunity to speak. In my opinion, that both Dems and Repubs.
We should broadcast that all over the world to show them what the hell kind of administration we have running this country.
I’s like your permission to speak for every American who cares, “Please forgive us.”
Lima: #45: I think I have that series saved to my computer.
steve duncan @
88
I have a bunch of family in central and western Pa, out in the little mountain towns. They have several problems. The almost countless old coal mines are destabilizing (old wooden beams rotting away) and folks homes are falling into sink holes. Maybe people shouldn’t live in areas in which mining once or still occurs? Also, outside of Pittsburg and its suburbs, there has been a shortage of jobs for decades. The mills and factories are largely closed and the soft coal mines are tapped or no longer mined. It’s a lovely area (now that the trees have overgrown the boney piles and tipples) and I enjoy visiting my family, but hardly is it haven.
It’s 12.34pm (lunchtime) in Australia I’m sitting at my computer with the TV going to the left of me and an advertisement for an upcoming documentary on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission)comes on called “Katrina, The Aftermath” and just that 30 second clip nearly brought me to tears (sorry, I haven’t had my half a Valium today yet)
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN????? WTF????
Why the fuck did that brain frazzled IDIOT not take command of the situation and get the things done that needed to be done?
If the Mayor was overwhelmed and the local and State Parliamentary members were out of their league then the President should have taken charge and ordered an evacuation, military hospitals and have Field communication stations setup, he should have had people on the ground communicating directly back to him telling him what needed to be done.
None of this happened, he just sat back and let the New Orleans drown!!!
Please guy’s, I know you are doing a lot but Bush has to go! For the sake of world peace, for the sake of the middle and working classes, for the sake of “just giving a damm about someone else” this fool and his corrupt cronies need to be brought down and brought down hard.
I’m sorry that I’m so pissed off, but I honestly don’t believe that we can have a peaceful world where everyone has an opportunity while people like Bush, Cheney and Rumsfield are in power.
Good Luck and THank You Jane, this is my favourite Blog!
nephew saw Marcia Ball the other day at an austin concert pitching pro Rick Perry
ruined this video for me