Cleanin' up the Big Easy

Another one in the can - not a great day but another small step forward in the cleanup. I'd never been to N'Awlins prior to my first deployment and I'm real sure that I'm not seeing a vague shadow of it then or now. The folks at Entergy (local electric company) are estimating that there are sections of Orleans Parish that won't get electricity for 6 to 9 more months. A YEAR without power in your house unless you cut your house out of the grid and ran a dedicated generator (to avoid sending power into the grid or ground rather than your house). Then guard your home, because the barbarians are smashing and looting unoccupied homes. Signs everywhere for "House Gutting" services. General and sub-contractor trucks sporting license plates from as far away as Koll-ee-4-knee-ya (and an unbelievable number of Texas plates - is there a roofer or finish carpenter left in Texas? Talked to a gentleman today who wanted information about getting a FEMA trailer - his house has been broken into 3 times in the last week and he wanted to move his 12 kids to a safer neighborhood....

RANT MODE ACTIVE

A constantly discussed topic on local radio is where to place the FEMA trailers. The usual NIMBYs are at full-throated howl - and a lot of nimrods claim to support the "trailer on your lot" idea. Others want the ttailers placed only on commercial land for the workers at the plant/mall/organization. (That way, they could be removed after the temporary zoning lapsed.) What drivel. There is no "one-size-fits-all" perfect plan. Childish egos and hurt feelings are starting to replace the "let's work on the problem not who gets the credit" feeling that was far more prevalent before than now. Yes, I'm looking at YOU, Nagin and Blanco. Listening to the local politicos talking on WWL, you can hear the hint of raw money-lust in their voices as they describe the billions of Federal tax dollars they plan to strain through their local machine. With a suitable charge for "handling" (known as "mordita" in more honest cultures.....) all those lovely taxpayer $$... If I hear one more local pol demand Louisiana's "fair share" of another tax on oil and natural gas accompanied by dark hints of the Northeast freezing without Louisiana's gas and oil, I will be in danger of projectile vomiting. The new carpetbaggers are local and regional and national and all they want is some of our taxmoney.
Yes, the natives of NO love their city and want to rebuild it NOW. So, I imagine, did the city fathers and populace of Herculaneum and Pompeii. But the rebuilt NO CANnot and WILL not be a carbon copy of the old city. It must be rebuilt smartly (can anyone say "intelligent design"? I knew you could...) not in a haze of sepia-toned memory. Unless you want another disaster..... To quote Greybeard's comment - "What rises from the ashes will be upscale and more urbane" - (BTW- a lot of houses here BURNED due to electrical shorts caused by flooding) - I'm not sure he's entirely correct, but one thing they must do is remove the massive reliance upon the tourist industry. (How long would Vegas as a tourist spot last on an active fault line?) Yah, easy to say, but virtually the only tourists down here now are riding Gray Line buses on a tour of the devastation - $35/adult, $28/child, with $3 from each ticket donated to relief efforts. I'm not an urban planner, but things seriously need to change.

RANT MODE SUSPENDED

Got to rack. Oh-dark-thirty comes early and we work late. This is my opinion - what's yours?

Molly Ivins was one of my picks in the pool. Her snottiness is print is only exceeded by her treatment of folks who are not liberals assholes like she is. Not actively cheering her demise, but it would be a purification. Like Dan Rather using pureed forged ANG documents for a colonic lavage....