New Orleans Musings

A: Horrible; I've never seen anything like this in my life other than
the tsunami last year, and that seems kind of strange now in hindsight.

B: I think the death toll is going to be very high, much higher than
what they are saying right now. I've read a lot of stuff in blogs
(sorry I don't have any links saved) that are reporting that things are
waaaay worse than what they are showing on television. Also, the mayor
has said that it will be impossible to stop the levee breaks until the
entirety of NOLA is flooded to the water level of Lake Pontchatrain. It
reminds me of A.I.--that scene at the horrible ending of that film
where all you see are the tops of building in NY sticking out of the
ice.

C: Do you think we should rebuild this city? I don't; I think it should
be turned into a town centered entirely on shipping, turn it into an
industrial zone only. I think they should just raze the entire thing
and start over. It's ahorrible thing to think about--the city is home
to millions of people.

D: This seems silly and trite now--but this is going to hurt George
Bush politically in a big way the next time they ask for 30 billion
dollars to fund a week in Iraq. An American city is under water,
thousands have died, millions are homeless, and we're spending a
half-trillion dollars to rebuild Iraq?!?!

E: In economic and social terms, in many ways, this disaster far
outweighs 9/11. 9/11 was an outrage; this is a catastrophe. Do you
think Tom Hanks, et al, will organize a concert to "save" New Orleans?
Which leads me to:

F: This will become an interesting testament to where the US has either
progressed or regressed along racial lines. NOLA is a black city,
exceptionally poor in many areas. If the US does not put every resource
available to it that was put towards 9/11, you are going to see race
relations in the US deteriorate considerably. If that's possible.

G: Biloxi and Gulfport are big cities--we shouldn't forget that they
need all the help we can give them, too.

H: I hope the Creole culture doesn't disintegrate after this.

I: Seriously, the Federal government needs to step in, right now, and
take control of this mess. The public officials in LA are in over their
heads (no pun intended).

J: I've been hearing a lot of stuff about how racist the coverage of
the looting has been. I think that's crap. The looting will stop soon
when the flood reaches a certain height. The whole thing is bad news.

That's all for now.

Snarf, grateful to be safe, warm, and only 7 minutes from work. Gas
will be 4 bucks a gallon by the end of the week.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: PING: George Shirley
    ... Local news stations are carrying reports of looting, people in NO shooting at rescue helicopters, ets. ... happen, given the mix of people in New Orleans (or any big city, although New Orleans may have had more of one sort than another). ... New Orleans and the Missippi coastal towns/cities will rebuild given time, ...
    (rec.food.preserving)
  • Re: And in the News
    ... >>> federal tax dollars rebuilding a city that did not take very good ... >>> city where the local government made such poor choices that a LOT ... >> money should be made available to rebuild. ... >> safety in the area from natural disasters like this. ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: Did anyone happen to listen to OReilly tonight?
    ... >>Looting does lead to additional lawlessness but much of the ... >>looting would not have occurred had there been people on the ... make such a request of Bush, and frankly though a supporter, I ... But of course in a Big City ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Did anyone happen to listen to OReilly tonight?
    ... >>>Looting does lead to additional lawlessness but much of the ... >>>looting would not have occurred had there been people on the ... >make such a request of Bush, and frankly though a supporter, I ... But of course in a Big City ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Dennis Hastert says rebuilding N.O. "doesnt make sense"
    ... >> pretent to understand NO geography or topography other than what we ... Can a city be built in the vicinity ... >> rebuild in the same place again. ... >but where else can New Orleans be built? ...
    (alt.true-crime)