Katrina TV

Thanks to Dangle 24/7, here's a link to upcoming television related to Katrina:

Click here

Yeah, Skeered

Yup, I think for the rest of my life I'll be scared.

Scared of the date.

Scared of what might happen.

Of course, what might happen could happen anywhere between June first and November thirtieth.

But because of Katrina, I'll always be a little more sensitive to tropical upsets in August.

Just like folks who went thru Betsy will be leery around the first two weeks of September.

Or feeling a little uneasy like the people who experienced Camille in August of '69 . Yikes.

Because of Katrina I think I'll be uneasy for the rest of my life.

My husband, daughter and I stayed in my little cajun cottage in Slidell for Katrina.
I should have known things were not right when I went driving around Slidell on that Sunday morning, trying to get supplies to last us through a few days of no electricity. I was also looking for things to make my only child's 17th birthday something to remember even though a hurricane was to take the wind out of her sails.
There were hardly any cars out that whole weekend. Nobody was around.

Little did I know how much I under estimated Mother Nature.

I didn't pay attention to the weather that weekend. Sure, I had the TV on that afternoon, watching Ray Ray and the Stupid Woman Governor (who I did not vote for) giving a press conference on TV. I didn't pay attention to the scenes on TV about the interstate at a complete standstill....all lanes going north or west. "Same old same old" I felt. Just like hurricane Georges (George or Jjjjj--or-jjjjezz) a few years before, when everyone left and nothing happened.

We celebrated my daugher's birthday that Sunday afternoon, August 28th. We had a good dinner, boston cream pie and enjoyed some easy-to-forget television programming. About 1 AM Monday morning my daughter came upstairs to tell me the electricity was out and she was scared. I came downstairs to lie on the floor and keep her company. Within three hours I had to give my precious child 1/2 Xanax to keep her from completely freaking out. She slept for the next 12 hours.

Katrina's winds were just beginning about daybreak and they were fierce. Hubby and I lay on the living room floor listening to the pine cones slam into the roof with so much force. When we didn't hear the pine cones hit, all we could hear was the howling of the winds.

You know how people try to explain that sound of the train during heavy storms? It's real. We listened to that sound which was constantlly over ridden by a stronger whooshing sound. All I can do to describe it is to tell you to imagine the sound of a very loud central air conditioner humming. Occasionally one of us would look out the front door to check on the huge pine trees bending. Little did we know that 1/2 of those trees would end up in houses or across the road.

One truely odd moment during the height of Katrina that is burned in my mind is seeing a white pickup truck stop in front of my house. DURING THE HEIGHT OF A CAT 3 (winds of 177-190 mph) a man got out of this pickup truck with a chainsaw and proceed to cut down pine trees that had fallen across the road. I found out later that this guy patrolled the whole neighborhood of Ozone Woods, clearing the way for whatever rescue people that might show up.

We didn't know how bad it would be at that time.

A few hours later - Monday afternoon - we ventured outside. The winds were still gusting and rain was falling. Looking up and down the street we were stunned. In my 50 years I have never seen such destruction from Mother Nature.

In retropect, I realize we were in shock. Otherwise we'd have taken pictures of what we were witnessing. Our shock lasted for at least two weeks.

My daughter woke up later that night. With no electricity but plenty of candles and batteries, we listened to Garland Robinette on WWL radio (using a Sony radio I got for my 13th birthday).

I can't relay to those of you who weren't here the horror of listening to what was going on in the days following Katrina. Read WWL's transcripts to get the real feelings. It was not nice.

Four days after Katrina hit we procured a generator after standing in line at Home Depot for four hours in 90 plus degree, almost-cloud-free-high-humidity weather. After we set it up, we agreed to only run it for a few hours after six pm. It felt good to feel the moving air of my box fans. But I would've traded that good feeling not to see what was going on in New Orleans on that Thursday. Lord, our hearts broke. I went outside and wailed, cried for an hour. Oh how could this horror be happening? I think we each took turns going outside to cry for a week after we got the generator.

Up here in St. Tammany Parish we were cut off from the rest of the world for 2 weeks. Cell phones didn't work. We drove to Hammond to contact family members and let them know we were alive. Lots of tears. Communication was limited to hand made signs. Land lines worked in some homes after a week. A lot of tears. I don't think I'll ever look back at that time without crying. Can anyone who has a heart?

I'll never stay again.

To the people coming down here - a YEAR after the storm to "blog" on what's "REALLY HAPPENING" in New Orleans: you are not wanted here. Find another cause. We've survived this long without you and do not need your help getting the word out.

Pay your dues elsewhere, kids.

Double E Indeed

Curious about what little ole Easton is up to, I decided to google is "famous name".
from I got this

Easton Ellsworth - The Blogger Interviews - Number One
by Darren | Bookmark on del.icio.us
Easton Ellsworth is a man that likes to be first, and this time is no exception. When I asked for bloggers to interview, Double E (as I like to think of him) didn’t hesitate to answer the call, and now he gets to be the first in our hopefully long-running Blogger Interview series. We can learn the most from the people who are already doing the job.

Bio - Easton Ellsworth is an associate editor for the Know More Media network of business-related blogs. His blog, Business Blog Wire, covers corporate and professional blogging. He has been blogging since October 2005 and is the founder of blogtipping. Easton is 25 and lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife and one-year-old son.

1) What got you into blogging into the first place?

It just fell into my lap! The guys I worked for as a copywriter at Tornado Solutions, a small Web publishing company, decided to build a blog network all about business called Know More Media. They gave me an editor/blogger/assistant/scout/guinea pig/Swiss Army knife kind of role and I haven’t stopped having fun since.

Having fun covering the terrible goings on in New Orleans, double e?



2) Are you achieving the goals you set out to do when you started?

Yes, both as an individual and as a company. My first goal is to help our bloggers succeed. Everything else, including the success of my own blog, is secondary. We’re growing very steadily at KMM and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Glad you are thrilled, double e!



3) What are the key aspects concerning blogging for dollars that you’ve learned?

First, regularly publish original
Is it original to take from locals, double e?
content that will appeal to a large number of people who have time and money to spend. Second, get those people to spread word of your services to others. Third, set goals and plan carefully. Fourth, work diligently. Fifth, have a Plan B in case of failure.

Hope Plan B is ready in this case, double e.



4) If you had to give advice to someone else looking to make money blogging, what would it be?

Never give up. Write more. Read less. Believe in yourself. Befriend others. Set clear goals. Work harder. Work smarter. Try new things. Ask questions. Be different. Be irreplaceable. Be nice. Listen to people. Have fun.

I can replace you with Ray Nagin, double e, you little shit!!



5) What do you think of vlogging? Are you doing it yourself? Have you experimented with podcasting, what were the results?

Vlogging and podcasting are harder to monetize, because of the format and because advertising is still catching up to the technology. I have a little experience with both. They are easy to learn and to do, and very fun. You have to watch out for glitches, though. I’ve lost whole interviews due to silly technical errors. I don’t vlog or podcast much at all, but I plan to do more of that in the future.


Can you imagine trying to "vee lawg" during Katrina's flooding, double e?



6) Where do you see blogging (and yourself) in 5 years?

I think KMM will have grown considerably. I hope to stay with it as long as possible. Blogging will be immensely popular. Millions of professionals will use them to boost their careers. There will be bigger and better “live” search engines. There will be more ways to make the world a better place, and unfortunately some will take that in the opposite direction. But overall I hope the effect of blogs will be good. I see myself using blogs and other new media in a career involving Web publishing. Hopefully I can help other people learn things that make them better folks.


I'm gonna puke!!
How old are you, double e?
I hope the NOLA bloggers eat you for lunch, double e

New Orleans' Rebirth

It's not an easy rebirth by any account of the imagination.

Here is a link to

a landlord being called out for her lousy management of a house in Mid City.

It gives a good feel to the day-to-day goings on in Post K New Orleans, the characters people meet and the crap residents have to put up with.

Enjoy.

thanks to b rox

Mr. Lee

As usual, Spike Lee has people talking.

His HBO movie "When the Levees Broke", a four hour documentary, was screened at the New Orleans arena this week.

There's a wide variety of feelings about this subject.

from an intelligent rant of someone who hasn't seen the movie


to the NY Times movie review of someone who loves it

I was hesitant to watch it at first, but my girlfriend dragged me to the premiere in New Orleans. I was shocked because of the depth of the documentary, and how it explored the deep tragedy of the people trapped in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I sat through the entire four hours of the premiere without wanting to leave a minute too soon before it ended.

The one thing that I've heard that irks me is that people still believe that the levees were blown up, flooding the Ninth Ward to save the "rich white folk". That is utter bullshit. I don't know why this ridiculous rumor is still flying around, forty years after it began in Hurricane Betsy

I agree with what Mr. Lee said shortly after Katrina:
"What's happened down there is unprecedented," he says. "This country has forever been going to the far corners of the earth to help other people in need... When this occurred here on U.S. soil, this government turned its back on its own citizens."


However, on the issue that the levess were intentionally blown up:
from whatreallyhappened dot com :
"An LSU expert who looked at the video says, while the barge may have caused it, it was most likely the sheer force of the water that brought the levee along the Lower Ninth Ward down."

If anything, the blame for the force that destroyed the levees belongs to the infamous MRGO.


The force of Katrina's surge was huge. Imagine this force being funnelled down the MRGO and then pushed into the Industrial Canal.

For a graphic animation on the real story behind the flooding, go here

And here's a graphic (in Quicktime) showing a timeline of how ALL areas were flooded due to the levees giving way as a result of the storm surge.

As far as what a storm surge really is, here's a good explanation from Wired News:
Surge is the water a hurricane pushes up as it approaches shore. A number of factors contribute to its size: wind strength, air pressure, the size of a storm's eye, the distance hurricane force winds extend from the center, the speed at which it comes ashore and the angle at which it hits.

Hurricane force winds extended 125 miles from Katrina's center; Katrina's eye was 32 miles wide even though a storm of its intensity normally has an eye that is 10 miles wide.

All I can say is that you can believe what extremists like Farakahn want you to, or you can check out all of the facts and make an informed decision.

here is a good place to start.

All of my feelings above are only from what I've read so far. I intend to view the series on HBO this week and will see if my feelings about what Spike Lee is trying to say change.

In the meantime, take the time to read Mark Folse's comments on this subject on his " Decoding Spike Lee's movie"

Bad Grass

From a true-to-the-soul New Orleanian.


New Orleans is a city of bad grass. Because it never dies.

However, taking the word bad and making it good doesn’t solve all our problems. I wish it were that easy.

But, the title of the article with Miss Barnes, “Recovery remains slow year after Katrina,” gets it wrong. This ain’t no recovery mission. This is a rescue mission. New Orleans is still alive, baby.

read more here... an excellent piece

Lake Catherine

Took a ride down Highway 90 this morning and discovered that the Chef Pass bridge has finally re-opened....50 weeks Post Katrina.


Curious to see how Lake Catherine -


a community that lives on the penninsula of land between Lakes Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne-made out, I took a ride.

Of course, I knew already how they made out, as I haven't seen any lights from that end of the lake on my daily commute since the storm.

The place looks like a bomb went off. This area was in the middle of Katrina's Eyewall. With the exception of a few homes in the process of rebuilding, the place is quiet. Sadly devoid of humans. Plenty of dragon flies and birds, though.


Most places look like this.

Many that made it throught the storm look like this.

Some places are rebuilding.


These two behemoths sit in front of the Textron Marine facility.

More photos at
this website,
this website,
and this site.
The last site is solely devoted to the Bayou Liberty area in Slidell.

John McCusker

John McCusker, the TP photographer arrested the other day, did an interview recently for Brown University students in which he described the pain he was experiencing in living in post-K New Orleans.

“Imagine going to bed one night, and waking up and everybody in your entire neighborhood and everybody that they know and everybody that they know is gone and you don’t know where they are. And some nights, you know, I gotta tell you, some nights that just in despair you lay in your bed, and like you’re a three-year-old and you just lay there and say, Oh my god. I want to go home. And you can’t go home."

Here's the rest of the story.

You can make a donation to help Mr. McCusker out by clicking here

To give a donation in John's name please include his name and in the "Message to Seller" box on the second page of the Paypal form.

Thanks to Vicky Moos for the heads up.



Here are Mr. McCuster's thoughts as he took this photograph:
"Something was wrong. The hurricane had passed earlier and it had not rained in hours. Later that day we learned that levees had failed and the city was filling with water."

Insurance Fraud

Why do simple folk get arrested for insurance fraud when multi-mega corporations like Allstate Insurance go unscathed?

"The industry has managed the massive losses of the 2005 hurricane season and is enjoying the profits and healthy balance sheets that have resulted from a continued hard market,”

Click here to read Wet Bank Guide: The Final Evacuation

BLANCO MUST GO

Our esteemed leader wants to put tolls on I10 & I12.

From the Times Pic:

Louisiana Transportation Secretary Johnny Bradberry submitted a formal "Expression of Interest" application to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, asking for permission to convert I-10 and I-12 into toll roads, in a letter Vitter's office included with his statement to Blanco.


Who's going to start the recall petition??

We're in lala land all over again.

Resurrection

The long, strange resurrection of New Orleans
Hurricane Katrina was the biggest natural disaster in US history - and its aftermath became the biggest management disaster in history as well. A year later, Fortune lays bare this surreal tale of incompetence, political cowardice...and rebirth.

Long, but great article. thanks to YRHT.