Scuzzbucket

Neel Borsch



from it's website:


We've all be watching the drama from Fargo, North Dakota. Floods are bad enough, but when you have to deal with those floods in -11 degree temperatures I would imagine it is almost unbearable.

OK .. now for the insensitive thought. Let's keep some score. Let's see how well the residents of Fargo handle this disaster vs. the residents of New Orleans. The parasite quotient in New Orleans gives a huge lead to the denizens of the frozen north. I'm guessing that three and one-half years from now you will not see many Fargo residents living in motels as guests of the taxpayers.

Just go on and stir that pot, Neel. And your commenters, my what a bunch of frozen tundra boors. Maybe that's why they relate to Borsch.

some excerpts


We were flooded much worse than New Orleans and we helped one another out and life went on. It is funny how that works.

~

Now, I'm no defender of NO, no way. I was a responder and they sickened me and I got to the point that I wished they'd all just drown already and be rid of them BUT there is a world of difference in their ability to prepare in these places.

~

Has anyone taken a head count of volunteers from New Orleans going up to help out with the sandbagging operation?
I haven't heard of any busloads of Katrina "victims" going north to return the favor.



From First Draft, a great comment

Boortz is a Cat5 hurricane on the Homer-Simpson scale of storm stupidity.

What it was like

Hurricane coverage took over local TV completely. I watched the aerial footage of jammed Interstate Highways, lines of vehicles barely moving, the procession extending as far as the cameras could see. The affluent and upscale people were finding their exodus out of harms way a trek and ordeal. One family, very yuppie, a couple with two children, two small yappy dogs and a late model SUV were bemoaning their personal misery as it took them over 9 hours to reach Baton Rouge, only to find every motel and hotel locked solid or commandeered by emergency personnel. In retrospect I am more inclined to laugh at their plight and feel little sympathy for them. Considering all that followed, they didn’t know what suffering was.

In my third floor ‘ye olde urban slum’ apartment at the rundown ‘Rebel Arms’, at 1005 Decatur, I did what I could to prepare myself and my neighbors. We could not buy those ‘emergency supplies’ newspeople urge people to get in such situations. The local Wallgreens and small grocery stores that are in the French Quarter all considerately ‘closed for the duration’ 24 hours before the storm arrived.........

for the whole story, go here

Bayou Liberty Spring

During our "running around" yesterday, hubby and I decided to take Bayou Liberty Road home. I rarely take this way because of the construction on the new bridge. It's a little annoying to sit for five minutes or more, waiting for the light to turn so that you can go on your way.

All of the rains that we experienced last week has caused some localized flooding as evidenced by these pictures.
click on pictures for larger versions










You can see the old and new bridges in this photo. The newer bridge - the cause of all of the traffic jams - is s l o w l y progressing.


I know I'm not alone in saying that I will sorely miss this image.



You can see the water has creeped onto the road at the foot of the old bridge.

Back at home, my decapitated baby cypress is blooming into a beautiful umbrella tree

Save this date

Saturday, May 16th


Photography done by Ellis Anderson, Dawn Stoltz and Joe Tomasovsky of Bay St. Louis.

Ellis has a well-written, riveting account of her Katrina experiences at this website .

Only in Louisiana

Finally, nearly four years post Katrina, we have the closure of the MRGO. It will celebrated with the "Close MRGO Rock Throwing Ceremony".

From the TP

The closing of the controversial Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet in St. Bernard Parish will be marked in a unique way Saturday: with the casting of stones.

Government officials, conservationists and residents will pile into boats and head out to Bayou La Loutre, where everyone will get the chance to chuck rocks into the waterway at the spot where it is being plugged.

click on photos for larger versions


Image courtesy of Times Picayune graphics.

The ceremony is sponsored by St. Bernard Parish government, the St. Bernard Parish Sportsmen's League, the St. Bernard Coastal Advisory Committee and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

"It'll be a different way to express a little relief, " Carlton Dufrechou, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation said with a chuckle. "Old-timers have been talking for years of just blocking it with rocks. So this is for them."

The shipping channel, also known as MR-GO, was built in the 1960s as a shortcut from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans. It has taken the brunt of criticism in St. Bernard Parish, the Lower 9th Ward and some parts of eastern New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina's deadly flooding in 2005. Although the Army Corps of Engineers has said the channel had minimal impact on flooding, the MR-GO became increasingly unpopular in St. Bernard Parish after the hurricane.

In January, Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Co. of Pine Bluff, Ark., began erecting a rock structure across the channel. The structure's base will be 450 feet wide, tapering to 12 feet at the top. It will be 950 feet long and will jut 7 feet from the water's surface. The structure will consist of 430,000 tons of rock and cover 10 acres of the channel bottom.

Some of the rock used for the structure will come from the jetties that extend from the MR-GO into Breton Sound.

In late February, the work was almost 15 percent complete. Full closure is scheduled by July.




As humorous as this celebration sounds, it represents another step further away from the damages caused by Katrina.

from Wikipedia: Levees along MR-GO were breached in approximately 20 places along its length, directly flooding most of Saint Bernard Parish and New Orleans East. Storm surge from MR-GO is also a leading suspect in the three breaches of the Industrial Canal

Click here for a great intereactive graphic created by the TP showing how Katrina flooded southeast Louisiana.

Water, Water, Everywhere

Fargo, North Dakota - March 2009

found at this website

It's the season of the Spring floods.


In Woolwich, Maine. Breaking up ice on the 149-mile-long Kennebec River to minimize flooding is a rite of spring. The goal is to break up ice to prevent jams that can cause floods.

Earlier this week, residents in northwestern Ohio saw creeks and rivers flood after heavy storms.



About 50 families had to evacuate their homes in Defiance, and Maumee floodwaters washed into the town hall, restaurants and a few antique stores in Grand Rapids.



My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected as the record snowfall from winter 08-09 melts and wreaks havoc. Believe me, people down here know what you're going thru.

2009 JazzFest Cubes

Go here and use the pulldown menu under Music Schedule to view the music by stage/time

Laissez les bontemps roullez

Spring 2009

Friday was the first day of Spring and the weather was all about spring: low humidity, cool breezes and nighttime temperatures in the 50's. You couldn't order better weather. Hubby and I spent the whole weekend sprucing up the yard (actually, I was in a supporting role, he did all of the big stuff) after a short but miserable winter. Coming out of Gustav and Ike, the yard was in pretty bad shape.
Click on pictures for larger size



One of our cypress trees was topped by a neighbor's tree during Gustav(which also took out two fences....we're still waiting for him to fix it). This little tree his blooming and we couldn't be happier!



The entire backyard was covered with this blanket of sticky weed. After pulling it all up, I ended up with two trashcans of the weed.





Looking up into the blue skies, it's hard to miss the legacy of Katrina's trees. I'm surprised these twisted messes are still standing, let alone sprouting new growth.



Our wild irises are blooming quite nicely.



Even our 13 year old cat ventured out today to soak up some of the warm sunshine.


A view from my patio at 9 this morning. Today was the third day in a row with this great weather. We enjoy spring so much down here because it's short and usually followed by months of 90 plus degree weather and that damn humidity.

But I wouldn't live anywhere else.

scuzzbuckets

photo courtesy of www.wunderground.com/blog/moonlightcowboy/com


AIG Executives for their efforts to screw the American taxpayer by awarding its staff $165 million in bonuses AFTER accepting a multi-billion bailout from the federal government.

-- The top recipient of the bonuses received more than $6.4 million.

-- The top seven recipients got more than $4 million each.

-- A retention bonus for an employee who left totaled $4.6 million.

My retention bonus isn't nearly as much.
;)

Also benefiting from the Government bailout of AIG were French and German banks .


Edward Liddy, chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group Inc., (AIG), is shown in this file photo. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Kin Cheung

You'd think that people making this kind of money would find REAL hairstylists, wouldn't you?


AIG executives have blamed each other for the company's financial woes with former CEO Martin Sullivan (front) casting much of the blame on accounting rules

After receipt of their first installment of the Government bailout money of $85M, the execs took a little "business trip" to discuss how to dole out the money.


Itinerary courtesy of huffington post.com Click here to see a legible version.

I'm with my homestate Senator Barney Frank that the government should assert it's ownership of AIG. We own 80% of this bucket of scuzzes. I do like the idea that some lawmakers want to tax these bonuses at 100%.


A history of AIG's "leadership" since Katrina.

I'm no college graduate and I have made it a point to NOT look at my retirement account since September. Well, I did peek when I got something in the mail after year end and it made me shudder. But these SOB's who have been part of running a company into the ground and then accepting government money to stay afloat and THEN do what these people did make them prime candidates for SCUZZBUCKETS.

Update on Highway 90 Sculptures

A while back I ran a post about the "recycling" if - you will - of the live oak trees that became victims of Katrina. Instead of tearing them down, local chainsaw artists have created beautiful sculptures from them.

Crafting Art from Destruction. Here's an update from the Sunherald dot com

BILOXI — The idea of creating art from trees destroyed by Hurricane Katrina grew and spread in two years, from the Biloxi Bay Bridge all the way to Waveland, and now there are more than three dozen wood carvings along the beach.



They’ve become one of the top tourist attractions on the Coast and a symbol of the comeback of South Mississippi. The drive along U.S. 90 to see all of them takes locals and visitors over the new bridges, along the water and past homes that were rebuilt and waterfront lots still empty.



Some new sculptures are in progress and more are in the works. Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, Florida spent much of the past year donating his time to carve the tree trunks. This weekend he is carving the final feathers on an eagle at the Pass Christian War Memorial Park.

On March 28 the eagle will be dedicated in honor of the late Colonel Lawrence Roberts, father of “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen, the country’s first black military air corps.

A little to the east on U.S. 90, the eagles Miller carved soar with 17-foot wingspans near the entrance of the University of Southern Mississippi, whose mascot is the golden eagle. Miller said the university received so much positive feedback he was contacted by President Martha Saunders about doing a project for the main campus in Hattiesburg.

Also working on new carvings is Dayle Lewis, a professional chain-saw artist from Richmond, Ind. He gave an old oak tree wings when he carved a pair of angels into a tree near the beach in Bay St. Louis.



“It became the Guardian Angel Tree,” said Lewis.
The story goes that 100 years ago a member of the DeMontluzin family kept the tree from being cut when the road was built, said Douglas Niolet.

“I guess she saved it for us,” Niolet said, because he and two others found their way to the oak and hung onto it for more than three hours during Hurricane Katrina. The tree died after the storm and the survivors asked Lewis to carve it into the angels that watched over them.



Lewis said many people have told him how much joy and spirit the tree has brought to Bay St. Louis.

He has done quite a few carvings in people’s yards and created angels for their homes. He’s also donated his time and talent to help groups. The first year he worked in New Orleans and the second year raised money for a fire station in Kiln. This year he’s carving alligators, pelicans and herons to raise money for the Amish group CARE, so they can continue to rebuild homes on the Coast.


This is a map of the wood sculptures along the Coast, spanning more than 30 miles from Waveland to Biloxi. Zoom in and use your mouse to pan the image. Click on the green pins to see photos of the three dozen sculptures along the route.

View Larger Map

Miller started with a dolphin, birds and a sea horse in December 2007 and became more adventurous as he worked. In his latest piece in Biloxi, he carved a multi-layer sculpture with shadows among the osprey and he gave Waveland a carving where there wasn’t a tree.

As about 1,000 volunteers spruced up Waveland for the national kickoff of Keep America Beautiful on March 3, Miller worked on a sculpture at the intersection of U.S. 90 and Mississippi 603. A dead tree was moved to the site and cemented into place. With his chain saws, Miller worked several days on the carving — and past 10 p.m. on a cold, windy Sunday night. “People thought I was crazy,” he said, until they saw the three dolphins and a large turtle emerging from the dead tree.
“There’s no other carving like it,” he said.



The city is proud to have one of Miller’s sculptures, said Joy Norman, Waveland spokeswoman. ”It’s beautiful.”

Visitors enjoy the new attractions, as well.

“I think the carvings are awesome,” said Darlene Sauve of Rapid River, Mich., a snowbird staying in Biloxi for the winter. She was one of several people snapping photos of the carvings in Biloxi last week while a crew sprayed the sea-life sculptures with sealant to protect them.

Brian Thacker with Biloxi Public Works said the sealant, applied once a year, fights moisture, bugs and salt spray and even has a UV protectant so the carvings will survive the beachfront elements.

“We’ve got a new landmark,” said Biloxi Public Affairs Manager Vincent Creel, who has documented the carvings on the city’s Web site. The first sculptures were done by Sandersville, Miss., chain-saw artist Dayton Scoggins; Miller carved 16 of the 21 tree sculptures in Biloxi.

Miller said he’d like to carve sculptures at the welcome centers at the west and east entrances of the state so people traveling on Interstate 10 will be inspired to drive down to the beach to see the rest, and help local businesses.

here's a link to a
gallery of incredible tree carvings along Highway 90 on the Mississippi Gulf coast by chainsaw artists Dayton Scoggins of Sandersville, Mississippi
and Marlin Miller of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Thanks to Volunteers

From a Katrina blogger in Pascagoula comes this comment


We received a comment the other night on the blog that really touched us. I would hate for it to end up buried at the end of a miscellaneous post here -- and think it deserves a post of its own. It follows below with my emphases and comments.

I too lost a home in Katrina. Our house was built in the 1860's (yes eighteen sixties)and we truly loved living there in Bay St. Louis Ms. [The first two sentences took my breath away and then all the old Katrina-emotions flooded in. We were lucky - though it doesn't always feel like it - to have been left with a good chunk of our original home when the water receded. We grieve right along with you for the loss of a precious piece of our history. Well over 100 years -- gone in a few hours.]

We also took refuge on the second floor however when the water got chest deep on the second floor we took refuge in a pine tree. My wife and I were in the tree for three hours and later when we measured there was nearly thirty (30) feet of water below us. [I've often written here that our survival story was not very dramatic. This is what I'm talking about.]

We managed to get back on the roof as the water began to go down but the storm raged on. At dusk we walked a block to the beach across neighbors property that had been wiped clean of homes. We looked back to see the pile of rubble that was once our stately home, but we had our lives and we had each other. [Yes!]

I commend you for writing this to tell the world that the "Hurricane" did not end the night of August 29th, it is still going on.

We were driving on the beach (Hwy 90) today and commenting that some of the scars are beginning to fade. The beautiful homes are gone but our spirit remains. We will start over with our heads held high. [Amen!!]

Before I end this rant I would like to thank all the people that volunteered and continue to volunteer to help us rebuild. Without them where would we be? Families like yours dug out, ripped out and gutted, endured the heat and the mess, and can now hold your head high and be proud of what you have accomplished. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share your recovery effort.

Rich C