How's New Orleans coming along ?

[PeterSibley]

NO has totally dropped off the news over here , how's the rebuilding going ...?

[George Roberts]

Just glanced at the paper yesterday. FBI is sending in people to help with police duties - some type of crime was up 107% since ???.

Yes, the people and their problems have fallen off the news.

[High C]

Thanks for asking, Peter. It's not going well. Without going into a lot of detail, the situation can be quickly assessed by observing the population level of the city. It's still only about half what it was before the storm.

With no solid commitment to improve the levy system and deal with the coastal erosion problem, the smart money is getting out of town.

[puffin3]

In spite of the fact that Nagin and Co. can't bribe the crack whores and drug dealers and looters and gang bangers and murderers to come back the crime rate is up. Go figure.
The 'smart money' will never return in a thousand years. The next big hurricane to hit NO will thankfully end what was one of mankinds worst ideas. "Let's see, why don't we attempt to hold back nature with levies and drain this swamp and populate it with people who have barely enough brains to know which way to turn a door knob and then sit back and tell the Government to take care of them." At least they know who to elect: The Three LIB Amigos: The Governer, the REP, and the Mayor.
Let's see, I've got a million dollars to buy a Starbucks franchise. But where? NO or Seattle?

[huisjen]

You're puffin' three what?

[willmarsh3]

You may have already done this but...
here's the website that I use to look at goings on there:

http://www.nola.com/

Also go to Google News and search for New Orleans to get others.

[puffin3]

Three times the IQ of three hundred voters who cast their vote for Jefferson nine times.

[ishmael]

There's been quite a bit of ongoing coverage here. I think one of our network anchors did a whole week of broadcasts recently.

From what I hear it's still a mess. The wolves have moved in, many neighborhoods in complete disarray still, etc. They're dying for decent contractors to rebuild--there are a bunch of flybynights--but there's no place to house people. It's become a magnet for Mexican illegals, looking for a hammer, and that is likely to change its complexion permanently. Not that this is bad or wrong, but it's happening.

The Big Easy ain't so easy today.

[Memphis Mike]

Thanks for asking, Peter. It's not going well. Without going into a lot of detail, the situation can be quickly assessed by observing the population level of the city. It's still only about half what it was before the storm.

With no solid commitment to improve the levy system and deal with the coastal erosion problem, the smart money is getting out of town.

Really nice that the Dubya has spent all the money on the Iraq war, isn't it?

[JTA]

Do you have any idea how much money has been sent to New Orleans? (Your tax dollars) And do you have any idea how that money has been spent by the local and state governments?

[ishmael]

This was a huge disaster. Not as big as the tsunami in Indonesia. To compare it to other recent experience of a city on the ropes I look to Berlin at the end of the war, or a handful of other cities of the same period.

Expecting government, any government, to fix it is odd. They have a part.

One of my favorite bits of film from WWII is a clip from Berlin. The dust had settled, and the citizens were out moving debris around. Between the American and British bombing and the Russian shelling, Berlin was a total wreck. Their future was completely unsettled, they were about to become a bone of contention between the east and west, but there they were, out hauling stuff around, trying to make it somewhat normal again. The government didn't direct them to do that, they knew if they wanted some form of normal again they had to dig in and do it.

[LeeG]

is the state getting more money from off shore oil now?

[High C]

I really don't know.... was it anywhere near as much as has been spent on Iraq? Was it more than the $3 Billion we send to Israel each year? Or the $2 Billion we send to Egypt?

Over $110 billion to the whole Katrina hit region. Not all of it allocated or spent yet, but that's the amount in the pipeline from Washington.

Special thanks to Memphis Mike for his share.

[High C]

is the state getting more money from off shore oil now?

Yes, a trickle, and only from future leases. Every other Gulf state gets a much better deal.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

This was a huge disaster. Not as big as the tsunami in Indonesia. To compare it to other recent experience of a city on the ropes I look to Berlin at the end of the war, or a handful of other cities of the same period.

Expecting government, any government, to fix it is odd. They have a part.

One of my favorite bits of film from WWII is a clip from Berlin. The dust had settled, and the citizens were out moving debris around. Between the American and British bombing and the Russian shelling, Berlin was a total wreck. Their future was completely unsettled, they were about to become a bone of contention between the east and west, but there they were, out hauling stuff around, trying to make it somewhat normal again. The government didn't direct them to do that, they knew if they wanted some form of normal again they had to dig in and do it.

You evaluation of the German people is correct. They were/are very industrious.
But, Berlin was a special problem. At the end of the war there was almost no food. The Allies assembled legions, mainly women, who were put to work moving/removing rubble. Working for the Allies guaranteed a source of food for as long as the job lasted.
Berliners have erected a memorial to these women.