Tag: New Orleans

On NightProwlKitty‘s diary, “I’m not waiting on the government to give me nothing”

https://www.docudharma.com/show…

tahoebasha3 posted a comment about a group named NENA (The Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association) that is part of the effort to rebuild the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans. The organization is under the auspices of Lower 9th Ward residents. Tahoebasha3 posted NENA’s telephone number.

I called and the woman who answered the phone later told me she was President of Lower Ninth Ward Homeowner’s Association. She was handling the phones while everyone else went to lunch. I’m still a little bit overwhelmed by our conversation, so this essay will be brief. I was told that the majority of the people NENA helped were senior citizens. We exchanged emails and plan to stay in touch. I thank everyone who blogs on this issue, it’s because of you that I made this simple phone call.

NENA’s priority needs are:

1.) Building Materials: nails to studs to wire.

2.) Money

3.) Gift Cards from: Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Win Dixie Food Stores, Dollar General, Family Dollar  

Send to:

NENA

PO Box 3920

New Orleans, Louisiana 70177

“If it wasn’t for the people who call us, we wouldn’t be as advanced as we are.

It’s the thought, you know?”

~~Linda Jackson

Many of us (though, sadly, not all) know by now that the damage to New Orleans was not caused by a natural disaster but by human error — the errors of the Army Corps of Engineers.

That’s why back in February of 2007, New Orleans federal court judge Stanwood Duvall ruled the ACOE couldn’t claim immunity:

The Army Corps of Engineers can’t assert immunity in a lawsuit over the catastrophic flooding following Hurricane Katrina, because of the plaintiffs’ claim that flooding stemmed from the agency’s negligence in fixing defects in the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet navigation project that it had known of for years, a New Orleans federal court judge ruled Friday.

This won’t be a long essay.

I never watch Mr. Bush, I can’t stand to hear his voice or see his face.

But I do read the transcripts of what he says.

I was wondering if he’d mention it tonight.  He certainly didn’t mention it in 2006.  And if he did mention it last year, I don’t recall.

But he did mention it this year.  How kind of you, Mr. Bush.

 

Finally, some good news for NOLA: NASA has chosen the Michoud Assembly Facility in Eastern New Orleans as the site for three of its major contracts for its upcoming Constellation Program.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) — The route to the moon and perhaps to Mars now goes through New Orleans — and the detour couldn’t come at a better time in the city’s struggle to rebuild its shattered economy after Hurricane Katrina.

With thousands of houses still in ruins and its population reduced by almost 170,000, New Orleans is getting a boost in the form of high-wage jobs and contracts for next-generation space systems at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/…

More below the fold…

As anybody who regularly watches candidates’ debates knows, questions about Katrina and New Orleans have been extremely rare, even though this is a valid national campaign issue. Here’s a chance to vote for such a question to be asked during either of the two debates, one Republican, one Democratic, which are slated for Los Angeles on Jan. 30th and Jan. 31st, and will be aired on CNN.

Times Picayune columnist Chris Rose recently has an interesting idea. He tells in this column how he attempted to book a lot of Oxford, Mississippi’s 650 hotel rooms for the night of the presidential debate to be held there. And found that they’d already been booked. So here’s another idea:

John Edwards’ remark Monday night about having opened his campaign in the Lower 9th and saying he thought Americans were surprised at how much devastation still remains in New Orleans came just in time. Because after having heard nothing on the topic from him for several weeks, I’d been wondering if he’d fallen silent on the issue. However, he needs not only to say more, but also to assume leadership on New Orleans and Katrina. Unfortunately, Edwards’ website’s issues page just like Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s, makes no mention of New Orleans or Katrina above the fold. So even Edwards is falling very short of being the sort of candidate New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region need.

Bear with me for posting a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-themed diary a day late. Because of the holiday, the libraries where I do my computer work were closed. And last night’s Democrats’ debate, along with other things that have been on my mind, have made me wonder how the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would feel about…..

Tuesday night, Brian Williams, or, as HuffPo’s Rachel Sklar says he’s called behind his back, “BriWi,” moderated the Democrats’ debate in Las Vegas. Had I been out there among the gamblers before the debate, I would have bet that BriWi would do the same as he had in the two previous debates he moderated and not bring up New Orleans or Katrina. It would have been a sure thing and I’d probably be rich this morning.

His performance as a moderator was pathetic….

Jesse Jackson, Jr., in stumping for Barack Obama, was correct in pointing out after the New Hampshire primary that Hillary Clinton did not cry for Katrina.

Apparently, based on what’s above the fold on her issues page, Clinton doesn’t seem to think that Katrina’s impact on the Gulf Region or the loss of 80% of New Orleans due to the failure of federally-maintained levees is that big a deal today–as if the fact that the continued suffering of many in the disaster zone close to 2 1/2 years after the flood doesn’t matter. And this is morally wrong.

One thing all the presidential candidates, Democrat or Republican, have in common is the following: None who spoke after the New Hampshire primary brought up New Orleans or Katrina. Huffpo’s Harry Shearer had an excellent piece on this yesterday.

This is unconscionable. And, while we might expect this sort of crap from the GOP candidates, all of whom, as long as Bush is President, would (publicly, at least) be in support of his neglect of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region, we should not stand for it from the Democrats.