Katrina's aftermath

It's a fair assessment. I'd say this, though -- w/r/t Iraq, I find it important to document what is going on, a continuing acknowledgement and bitter, sick anger. There are thousands of people who have died now, our fellow citizens, far more Iraqis, others, and the decisions and mindsets of the people currently in charge of our government are part and parcel in terms of how this will get resolved, what if anything will come of what's been happening now for almost two and a half years. If it is pornography to observe what is being said, how it's being said, where the second thoughts are emerging among that horrific clique of hawks, the emerging sense that 'mistakes were made' -- and that people are dead because of it -- then call it that if you must. But I will watch and I will call attention to it because I want it documented, even in this own small one-person way of mine. We are not living in a cocoon, but I think our government is doing its best to pretend we should. I find that contemptible -- and whatever else I think about it, without pretending I've never used understatement and sarcasm about it all before, I don't find anything at all about Iraq simply 'most unfun.'

As for Katrina, you can call it my realization that this is getting worse all the time. No, I won't be posting about it forever. But it is happening right now, and I admit my attention is on it, and perhaps some of the information might be useful to other folks. Perhaps I am wrong.

Finally, the reason for said BBC 'fetish' is simple -- when 9/11 happened, I realized that CNN and other mainstream American media outlets would swiftly become unwatchable, their sites unreadable. I felt the jingoism coalescing almost immediately. Since that time I rely on the BBC site for basic world news, and while they obviously have their own biases at work which it would be foolish to ignore, I have not chosen to look back.

Jeff Parish President. Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month.

holy shit.

http://www.abc-cafe.com/chrisfennessy/images/splash_page/BHH2001.jpg

yes, that's exactly it. it's not snobbishness -- all those cgi american flags and that bombastic music is egregious and nauseating.

are, i should say.

There are several reports that the Uptown area remains unflooded, particularly around Magazine and Jefferson (at least to Webster), and along Baronne Street (though it was unclear where on Baronne).

If you think Ned only dwells on "misery" then you might be dwelling on it yourself. You obviously havent' seen the hundreds of positive and sunny posts that Ned makes all over the place that have nothing to do with death, nor destruction. I should say am most familiar with Ned of ILM, but still.

i'm finding it hard to pay attention to much else.

I hope Rock Hardy is doing fine.

god whatever.

xpost - my impression was that many tourists were unable to leave

really, if this type of thread bothers you so much, then why post here? yer posts are not constructive AT ALL.

Indeed. So can we move on? Ethan said his piece, I said mine, we know where we stand. (xpost with JBR)

once their planes were gone, airlines wouldn't fly in cuz they didn't want to get their planes stuck in the aftermath. i'd imagine amtrak and greyhound did something similar. rental cars were probably all gone. and maybe, just maybe, she didn't have several thousand dollars to hire a limo.

xpost THANK YOU NED

xpost - 3 that wasn't exactly what i was saying, but let's drop it anyway. i just wanna hear about what's happening where several of my relatives live.

Like anything, it depends on the context. Video of desperate people and the obligatory "please Mr & Mrs. Survivor tell us how you feel" live cameras are completely inappropriate. However, I'm completely fascinated by the civic infrastructure and logistical aspects of big natural disasters like this. I'm watching these helicopters shots of NOLA and wondering how the hell the city engineer finds even something to start in on.

Yes, it's a desensitizing attitude toward the very real human catastrophe that's going on but what are you going to do? A small disaster is a tragedy, but something on this scale is a statistic - it's almost impossible to get your head about it.

x-post

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3:53 P.M. - N.O. Mayor Nagin: Priorities - 1. Rescuing people. 2. Fixing levee breaks. 3. Taking care of refugees in Superdome and hospitals.

3:43 P.M. - Senator Vitter: New Orleans will "absolutely" be rebuilt.

3:25 P.M. - With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers need to be evacuated.

"The situation is untenable," Blanco said during a news conference. "It's just heartbreaking."

3:15 P.M. - Charity Hospital is out of commission and they are trying to evacuate patients, but it is hard to get there because rising water is surrounding the hospital. They will try to evacuate the patients to other cities.

god, thats just incredible, that this even has to be a talking point, you know?