Katrina: Two Years Later

[Mule]

Well said Dueler.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by Mule

So when you get ready to "plow under" N.O. remember this. ... One half of the grain exported by the USA passes right by me. 40% of all the oil used by the USA does too. 25% of the US seafood supply comes from right down here on the bayou, as does 25% of the coffee the country drinks.

.

Now you gone over the line, Mulie...better not be talkin' 'bout his Starbuck's

[sammyg2]

The US federal government has spent approximately $91 BILLION to rebuild after katrinna. I say that's enough. More than enough. Just because people aren't responsible to handle that money in a responsible manner does not mean the money should keep flowing. The US government has supported people, given them money, food, housing, etc for 2 years. I say that's long enough.

Mule, you are talking BS. Nothing more, nothing less. You keep saying things that aren't true. Please put some facts behind your ridiculous claims or stop.

Agricuture in California relies on water from another state? Nope, another one of your lies. While i will state that the imperial valley used water from the colorado river, that river is on the border of california where the water is drawn so it is as much in California as any other state.
BUT here's the catch: the imperial valley is not much when compared to the real agriculture center, the central valley. take a good look at a topigraphical map of California, see that big long green strip down the middle from san Francisco to the grapevine? all agriculture and all watered from the sierras (in California). Stop making things up.

You keep saying that oil and grain pass right by you, cool. Let it keep passing you by. Who cares? Will it keep passing by if NO is no longer there? yes, it will. Suggesting that the mighty mississippi will stop flowing and the shipping will stop without NO is more ridiculousness. No one here believes that, even you. Plow new orleans under and the oil will still flow. The grain will still ship. The seafood will still get to where it's going.

Ever heard of the alaskan pipline?
Do you really think that the west coast refineries rely on oil from the gulf to run? No, they don't. West coast refineries rarely run any gulf coast oil if any.

You are talking BS and making stuff up. Stop it.
Either way I'm done talking to you about this. As I stated before my name is not holmes and your racist comments and your made up BS are wearing a little thin.

[KFC911]

[QUOTE=sammyg2;3452069]The US federal government has spent approximately $91 BILLION to rebuild after katrinna. I say that's enough.../QUOTE]

A fraction of that amount with REAL leadership would probably have sufficed. Just like Iraq, throwing money around (which GWB seems to be REAL good at) does not equate to "solving problems"

[Red Baron]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

How's his vision of building a chocolate city coming?

He didn't have to build it and it wasn't a vision. It really is a "racially mixed" city and always has been.

Could you please put his quote in the context it was stated rather than twist it into a racial divider? Do you know the real setting in which the comment was made and was meant by it?

[sammyg2]

The federal government threw money at these people and their local governments for two years and many of them squandered it, how it that Bush's fault?

[Mule]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

The US federal government has spent approximately $91 BILLION to rebuild after katrinna. I say that's enough. More than enough. Just because people aren't responsible to handle that money in a responsible manner does not mean the money should keep flowing. The US government has supported people, given them money, food, housing, etc for 2 years. I say that's long enough.

Mule, you are talking BS. Nothing more, nothing less. You keep saying things that aren't true. Please put some facts behind your ridiculous claims or stop.

Agricuture in California relies on water from another state? Nope, another one of your lies. While i will state that the imperial valley used water from the colorado river, that river is on the border of california where the water is drawn so it is as much in California as any other state.
BUT here's the catch: the imperial valley is not much when compared to the real agriculture center, the central valley. take a good look at a topigraphical map of California, see that big long green strip down the middle from san Francisco to the grapevine? all agriculture and all watered from the sierras (in California). Stop making things up.

You keep saying that oil and grain pass right by you, cool. Let it keep passing you by. Who cares? Will it keep passing by if NO is no longer there? yes, it will. Suggesting that the mighty mississippi will stop flowing and the shipping will stop without NO is more ridiculousness. No one here believes that, even you. Plow new orleans under and the oil will still flow. The grain will still ship. The seafood will still get to where it's going.

Ever heard of the alaskan pipline?
Do you really think that the west coast refineries rely on oil from the gulf to run? No, they don't. West coast refineries rarely run any gulf coast oil if any.

You are talking BS and making stuff up. Stop it.
Either way I'm done talking to you about this. As I stated before my name is not holmes and your racist comments and your made up BS are wearing a little thin.

Sorry if I'm steppin' on your toes there sammy, but what goes around comes around.
First, if you think 91 billion made it down here you're tripping.
Second, Katrina only has one n.
Third, If you think the govt has been supporting people down here since the storm you need to smoke less of CA's #1 agricultural product.
Fourth, the folks in Northern CA don't even like S CA.
Fifth, I think ya'll missed an opportunity by not electing Mary Carey Governor.



Now I'm gonna test that education again OK. So if CA doesn't need water then:
1.why is the Colorado river going dry?
2. Why did ya'll (southern colloquialism translating to "you guys") take all the federal money to get water from the Colorado River?

Now comes the informational segment. This may come as a shock but ocean going vessels don't do well in a river. Consequently, they must be loaded and off loaded. The place where this activity takes place is called a port. Get out YOUR map and you will find that ports are located on coasts. Coasts are vulnerable to storms from the sea. Stop me if I'm going too fast. The ports in Mexifornia are also vulnerable to earthquake, tsunami & landslides. So if we're gonna do any plowing under I say we start there.

You may think that if the oil stops flowing CA will continue unimpeded but I think that's your education failing you again.

Is this guy your neighbor?

[Dueller]

Let me give you one real world example. I had a client living in a modest retirement apartment in Nola. She was a retired teacher, 72 years old. No family. Living on a modest fixed income of Soc Security and a small pension from the Catholic school where she taught. She left her '88 Olds at her apt and boarded a school bus to evacuate with little more than the clothes on her back. Instead they took her to the Superdome as the evacuation routes were cloggged. Needless to say, it was terrifying to her. She watched people die. She attempted to walk out after the third day. She had no food and little water during this time. She was turned back. Ultimately she was evacuated to Houston. After a few days there she was transported to Arizona. In Az a church set her and 3 others in a small apartment.

After a month or two there, she was taken to another church sponsored relocation in Utah. The postal facilities in Nola were destroyed so her retirement checks were not forwarded to her. She was finally able to get benefits reinstated 4 months later. She could not access her modest savings because her bank was based in NOLA and flooded. During this time she received one emergency SSA payment of $600. Private charities gave her another $1000 dollars or so, plus food and shelter. She had no i.d. no medicare card, etc. She had no medicine for her heart condition for nearly a month. She almost died and but for an ER physician who finally got her meds to her.

Finally, after 6 months she was allowed to go to her old apt in Nola to recover her belongings. Her apt was on the 7th floor, and although it wasn't flooded on that floor, everything in her apartment was covered in black mold. Her old car had been hauled off because it was in an underground garage. Her insurance would not cover her loss because she didn't know where the car was. Her renters insurance denied her claims for her personal belongings because it didn't cover damage incident to flooding. FEMA did give her $800 for the car and another $1000 for her belongings.

She exhausted her savings. Finally she was able to find a private retirement home in Tennessee that had space after over a year of bouncing around among friends. As part of her "rent" she reads to other residents and cleans rooms.

She sure did benefit from sucking on the federal teat, don't ya think?

Meanwhile there are thousands of unused FEMA trailers sitting on the tarmac at the Hope, Arkansas airport costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in storage fees.

[Mule]

Dueller, if she had been from CA, even though displaced,she would have invented the cure for cancer, made a billion and spit at the govt for offering her that pittance.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by Mule

Dueller, if she had been from CA, even though displaced,she would have invented the cure for cancer, made a billion and spit at the govt for offering her that pittance.

Yup...'course they're all rugged individualists who don't accept the concept of federalism out in the land of fruits and nuts

[Mule]

and flakes

[scottmandue]

It's all Californians fault!

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by KC911

Thank you Mule...I haven't been back to NOLA since Katrina, but I know of too many good, hard working people who have been devastated through no fault of their own... Sammy lives in a glass house

I believe it was Doc Bundy who said

If no is near you on the track and a bolt of lightning strikes your car, it is YOUR fault

To add, if after 2 years they are still sitting and haven't started rebuilding, then hell yes, that to is their fault!!

But I digress. Many of you seem to think that all the "whiners" should just pick themselves up by their boot straps and not look to the feds for assistance. Just take their insurance checks and rebuild. Sorry, but most of the folks in the 9th ward in particular had no insurance. Why? Most of that arae is not owner occupied. The owners/landlords got their insurance check and chose not to rebuild. And why shouldn't they expect some assistance from the feds...after all, prior to Katrina HUD was subsidizing rents and that money was going into the pockets of the owners.
.

Could be because they didn't OWN the property!!! The ones who invested should be the ones who got paid, they are the ones who paid the property taxes. Others have started with little or nothing and managed to rebuild their lives, is most of NOLA to stupid to do the sane???

[Rearden]

Originally Posted by Mule

1.why is the Colorado river going dry?

Psst. Take a look at a map. Be sure to check out the southeastern border of California.

[chuckr]

[Mule]

Originally Posted by Rearden

Psst. Take a look at a map. Be sure to check out the southeastern border of California.

Got it. Do you deny that LA lives on water brought to them by the taxpayers of the USA?

[Mule]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

To add, if after 2 years they are still sitting and haven't started rebuilding, then hell yes, that to is their fault!!

There are some who haven't started rebuilding. They are mostly life long wards of the government & I hope they go somewhere else. The 9th ward would make a good nature preserve. Far from what you may have heard, these people were a drain on the city & contributed little. Aside from that, there are many hard working people who have been fighting to rebuild while at the same time fighting their insurance thieves & dirt bag govt bureaucrats. They have worked as hard as any rugged individualist from CA or tornado wrestler from KS and have have earned the right to hold their heads high in any crowd.

Others have started with little or nothing and managed to rebuild their lives, is most of NOLA to stupid to do the sane???

I'd like to see if you are this God damned cocky if your family lost every possession they had in the world.

[Dueller]

I'm gonna have to back out of this discussion for a few reasons: it seems to be moving far away from the general premise started by legion, we're now in a pi$$ing contest about how Cali gets it water, and with few exceptions none of you have seen the devastation wrought by Katrina beyond Fox and CNN. I'm from Mississippi, was on the Gulf coast as a volunteer 5 days after it hit and can tell you the devastation defied the senses...what most of you saw on TV cannot compare to the sights (and smells) in person. Hell, I'm 150 miles inland and we got 120 mph winds here...it blew half the roof off my house and we were without power for 10 days.

And Mule, I guess I've figured out what is a worse disaster to our left coast friends...the mass migration west to Kali-forn-I-A in the 30's dust bowl. Of course the WPA and other federal programs were likely shunned by their ancestors...I'm sure they did it all on their own.

But consider this: Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast of the United States. Katrina and Rita, following one month later, were two of the most intense hurricanes ever recorded in the nation’s history. The storms had a massive physical impact on the land, affecting 90,000 square miles – an area the size of Great Britain. Over 80 percent of the city of New Orleans flooded – an area seven times the size of Manhattan.

More than 1.5 million people were directly affected and more than 800,000 citizens were forced to live outside of their homes – the largest displacement of people since the great Dust Bowl migrations of the 1930s. (Courtesy of our friends at Homeland Security).

I'll sign out with these poignant words from the President: "You're doing a great job, Brownie."

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Mule

I'd like to see if you are this God damned cocky if your family lost every possession they had in the world.

I damn sure wouldn't still be sitting on my God damned A$$ 2 years later whining that the Government hasn't fixed everything for me yet!!! I'm sorry, my father taught my to rely on my self, and most of those affected were already unable to take care of themselves. I mean, we are talking TWO YEARS later and they are still not made any progress??? Hell, with all the rebuilding needed, one would learn the building trade
I have ridden that coaster, and when down, reevaluate and do what ever it takes (not waiting for someone to do it for me) to get back ahead!! Most in the 9th ward didn't have to much to lose, so it really should be too hard other than family pictures. The reson there are so many people down there still doing nothing is people like you, enable them by making exuses for them and taking more tax payers $$$ and give it to them

Here is someone who did it,

This Katrina evacuee is flourishing




By KAREN BRUNE MATHIS, The Times-Union


This time, Katrina evacuee Kendal McCoy was wearing a Hickey Freeman sport coat, estimated retail value $125, that he picked up for $5, including his employee discount.
sponsored links
buy a link here

The tie and shoes came from a Goodwill of North Florida retail store, too.

"If I have to come and professionally present myself, what better way than to represent my own company?" he asks.

McCoy, you see, works for Goodwill as an employment specialist. He teaches people, some of them down on their luck, how to find and keep jobs.

The job services are free and are paid for by sales of goods donated to Goodwill. McCoy figures, why pay retail when he can support his employer?

"I'm glad to have Jacksonville as an opportunity to focus on my career strengths, and to be aware of people in the same situation," he said last week as he prepared to lead a workshop.

Here's that situation. McCoy, 33, landed in Jacksonville two years ago after leaving his native New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He had his car and little else.

He bunked with a friend and immediately set out to find work, making a Goodwill store his first stop for clothes.

It was also his last job stop. He picked up a designer suit for $15 and a position at Goodwill's Job Junction. The first time I met him, he was wearing that suit, retail value $300.

Now, just two years after holding down three part-time jobs in New Orleans, he's making daily, full-time use of his bachelor's degree in social work.

McCoy and two co-workers assist an estimated 125 regular and new walk-in clients a day at the downtown Job Junction. They include former addicts, ex-offenders and the homeless. Any displaced worker is welcome.

"He relates exceptionally well. It's his professional approach, yet they can tell he cares, that he has a feel for them," says Goodwill President Bob Thayer. "He gives the straight scoop."

Retailer Peggy Johnson, who teaches public speaking to teenage felons at the Duval County jail, says McCoy is one of her regular speakers. "The kids love him," she says. "They can identify with someone who has overcome an obstacle."

Plus, he offers to help them find a job when they're released. Last year, the downtown office placed 1,489 of its 2,001 clients, a 74 percent rate, higher than all eight offices collectively.

McCoy says his mother always told him he'd have to leave tourism-dominated New Orleans to use his degree. And he likes Jacksonville. "I enjoy the atmosphere of the growth of the city. I can grow with the city and not stay here by default."

He's still considering further education, too.

McCoy's family, which fled to Nashville in the storm, has returned and rebuilt. He visited a few times but isn't ready to say when he might return. "I can't say I'm ready to go back."

McCoy has settled in Jacksonville. He moved to an Arlington apartment, 10 minutes from the office. He furnished his place with Goodwill purchases, too,

"I get off work and go home and enjoy the opportunity to be safe and employed," he says. He wants to stay with Goodwill "as long as they want me."

After work Wednesday, McCoy intends to observe the second anniversary of Katrina. He will return to his apartment, review a book about the storm, read articles, look at photos, call his family and friends and pray.

"It's like a birthday," he says. "A re-birthday."

karen.mathis@jacksonville.com,
,

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Dueller

I'm gonna have to back out of this discussion for a few reasons: it seems to be moving far away from the general premise started by legion, we're now in a pi$$ing contest about how Cali gets it water.

THANK YOU! All due respect to you guys but WTF... how did we go from Katrina to - earth quakes, fires, mud slides, and where do we get water in Calif.?