I believe the New Orleans tragedy is becoming lost. The city still remains dead, with little evidence that any progress has been made to bring it back.

The French Quarter is doing OK, even bringing in some tourist dollars. But the city is still dead. Nobody seems to care.

I remember a documentary about the possible New Orleans hurricane scenerio from about 1998. The
prediction was horrendous, and for the most part, accurate.

I find it amazing and unbelievable that our government has not done more to help this city.
And before you judge this comment, I truely believe that local jurisdictions should have control, but in this case, the Feds needed (and need) to step in.
Racism? Not sure I want to go that far, but why not a substantial effort to restore this important American city? Is it because most of what was lost was low-income, and not important to our economic equation?

I agree Redford but lets not forget how long it took to build New Orleans the first time around or any large metro area. If Portland were hit by a devastating earthquake it will take years, I mean many years to get it back to what we had before, and even then it will never be the same.

I agree the government failed to truly help. It is taking individual church groups, and other non-profit agencies and just good people wanting to help that is trying to restore what is now New Orleans.

Here's a suggestion;

If they need manpower to reconstruct parts of New Orleans, the public parts not private residences, and you are an able bodied person on welfare, include with the next welfare payment a bus ticket and subsequent welfare checks will be delivered in New Orleans.

Pay and train those that are sent to New Orleans and get them off welfare.

It's a win-win situation. They receive training and get paid while doing it, and get off welfare and we aren't supporting them (directly anyway).

Of course there are going to be exceptions of people that can't be sent. Single parents with no one to take care of the kids, etc.

I’m sure this idea would never fly with all the socialists in the government.

My understanding is that they busted the Unions, suspended hiring rules and went with KBR and a host of shady subcontractors. If this jewel of the Mississippi is to ever shine again it will be with the continued sweat of the citizens and volunteers. What you see is a city slowly being rebuilt in spite of our government.

Who has been there since Katrina? I am curious to hear your thoughts.

(Don't take this the wrong way, Bill, but I am really uncomfortable with the, "let's displace a group of people because they are poor" argument. The Dust Bowl and Katrina are already related in our history, so enjoy some John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie for perspective.)

Littlesongs, when you say "I am really uncomfortable with the, "let's displace a group of people because they are poor" argument."

Are you referring to the poor people in New Orleans or the welfare recipients I suggested we send down there?

I'm not suggesting that we send the welfare recipients to New Orleans permanently, just for a while. Send them down there, put them to work, pay them for the work (and not give them welfare), train them while they are there, and then bring them home after a specified period of time. Then they can get a job (hopefully) in their local community and stay off welfare.

Not a big fan of John Steinbeck (no reason, just haven't read any of his books) but am a BIG fan of Woody Guthrie and his son.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant, excepting Alice!

Forgive me for my sensitivity on that subject, but I feel a great deal of empathy for the displaced. My family moved in a school bus from Boston to Portland in 1975. I will grant you, my father had another good job waiting for him, but we were the working poor making a journey to Oregon for a better future.

Here is a peek at the world we left behind. It was no place to raise a child.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/21_boston.html

Get to know the Joad family in "Grapes of Wrath" and see what you think. It is one of my favorite books. I'm sure it will give you some insight on the victims of Katrina that were scattered across our land. Their experience has many similarities.

There is a ton of blame to go around here.

The federal government coulda and shoulda done more. A lot more. Just in terms of actions, compare Bush's ignoring Louisiana for several days with what President Johnson did when Hurricane Camille hit that area in the 60s.

While the storm was still roaring out of the area, Air Force 1 landed and they took Johnson to a shelter where people were huddled waiting out the storm with no power. He walked thru the dark hallways of the shelter, a school building, calling out, "Don't worry, your president is here!"

After Katrina, state and city authorities took the chance to play politics and steal funds just like they always, always, always have, and probably always, always, always will.

What would New Orleans be like now if they had someone like New York had in Rudy Giuliani after 9/11?

calling out, "Don't worry, your president is here!"


Wow! That's just awesome, in the literal sense of the word.

I'm sure thinking, "I don't care which party they come from, but can we please have a few of those for a while?"

Good friends of mine used to live in New Orleans for 4 years. They have been back in Oregon nearly 10 years but had many friends in NO affected and displaced by Katrina. This family packed up it's 3 kids (10-16 yrs) and they went to their old neighborhood which was devastated. They immediately started to pitch in and help.

My friend said they wore masks and goggles for protection, he also said it was a way to hide the tears while they worked.

It's this kind of spirit of giving and compassion, these kind of people that have and will always be the backbone for those in crisis. Not politicians, preachers, but ordinary people doing the extraordinary.

That's how you make a difference.

Well said, Cee-Tee.

So Fema screws up, now wants money back! From AP:

FEMA wants its money back
Seeks $309 million from scams as some still live in trailers
By Frank Bass and Michelle Roberts
Associated Press

Associated Press photos
“A lot of people got money who didn’t deserve it,” said Martha Wiggins, hugging her grandson.


Katrina refugee Crystal Dixon said she saw people bilk taxpayers while she fought for basic assistance to help feed and clothe her five children, ages 1 to 10.

NEW ORLEANS – In the neighborhood President Bush visited right after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government gave $84.5 million to more than 10,000 households. Census figures show fewer than 8,000 homes existed there at the time.

Now the government wants back a lot of its money. The Federal Emergency Management Administration has determined nearly 70,000 Louisiana households improperly received $309.1 million in grants.

In the period after two deadly hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, slammed the Gulf Coast in 2005 – Katrina making landfall in late August, followed by Rita in late September – federal officials scrambled to provide help in hard-hit areas such as submerged neighborhoods near the French Quarter.

Chris, I am glad to hear about folks like your friends. The world is full of good people and that story is for you cynics out there. Wouldn't we all hope that old Portlanders would migrate back and help?

My Uncle lived in Metairie, Louisiana. He was a mountain of a man who drove big rigs and owned his own outfit before Pontchartrain took it all away. He was not young. FEMA did provide him a trailer after a lengthy red tape filled wait. It was a poorly built tiny cracker box. Soon after his new "home" arrived, he fell in that trailer and broke his leg. He passed away last year due to complications directly related to that injury.

He made mistakes in his life and I imagine one of them was voting for David Duke, but he was family and I still loved him. I remember a Thanksgiving years ago when he was in town after lugging a load of new display cases for LaRog's. He shared stories of the road and his rather ironic love of black southern gospel music. I'll miss him.

If there is anything that has come out of this tragedy that one could call positive, it is the bonding of people of all colors down in the Gulf. He died, a completely different man.

I think that Katrina is a lot like the war. Virtually every American is related to, or friends with, at least one hurricane victim or member of our military. Some folks, I imagine, know and care about hundreds between those two groups. Perhaps it is why they are the elephants in the room. It is hard to think about every single day and still have any perspective.

We're a nation of emotional decision makers. The whole idea of building a city 12 ft below sea level was as boneheaded as any of Bush's better decisions.

Then Mother Nature spoke.


Lets move people out of the city and restore the sea level to its proper place. We're not gonna win games against Mother Nature.