![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:23:45
From Times Picayune, New Orleans
Will nation let feds back away from N.O.?
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Ivor van Heerden and Paul KempA city is the sum of all its parts, and New Orleans is missing many, if not its heart.
Though it has been called the most European of American cities, New Orleans is still quintessentially American. All Americans, wherever they live, go through life trusting in federally designed or certified structures to protect them from known dangers. Since Hurricane Katrina, we have seen an incredibly heartwarming outpouring of help from individual Americans all over the nation.
But other Americans, particularly in our nation's capital, are becoming aware of the threat Katrina poses to their less altruistic goals (think of Alaska's "bridge to nowhere"). These opinion leaders are beginning to blame Louisianians individually for living in New Orleans. We fear that this is psychic preparation for a denial of national responsibility.
This leads America rather quickly toward the chaos of Somalia and Haiti, where no one pretends to care. If in the future we are all left to fend for ourselves when the federal levees fail, whether really or metaphorically, then New Orleans will truly have given up its heart for an America that is no more. And what can Los Angeles and St. Louis and Charleston expect when the next big earthquake hits?
Most New Orleanians heeded the call to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. Those who did not were predominantly without means, elderly or frail. The fact that more than 70 percent of those who lost their lives were older than 65 dramatically emphasizes this point.
An article in the current issue of Time magazine has got it right. The catastrophic failure of the levee system should not have happened. If the levees had not breached and were merely overtopped in sections, we would all be hard at work getting back to normal. We would not be facing statewide insolvency and perhaps an irreparable exposure of national hypocrisy.
We use the words "catastrophic structural failure" from both scientific and social perspectives. Katrina has forced us in Louisiana to look hard at what steel and earth was or wasn't under those levees in New Orleans. Similarly, the national response to Katrina tells us all whether we have a government by and for all the people, or only for those who have not yet tested the federal engineering systems that they think protect them.
So where does that leave us?
The America we love is a nation with broad shoulders and a sense of responsibility. As scientists involved in the forensics investigations, we are discovering the mechanisms of failure associated with each levee breach. Some of our findings have already been discussed in the report of the American Society of Civil Engineers and in Senate testimony. Other points will no doubt be elucidated through the painfully slow mechanisms of legal discovery.
But none of this information will change the fundamental ethical question Katrina poses to the nation. We submit that it is time for America to step up and do what's right for the Americans of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We must reassure those who have not yet been hit by disaster that we are not only a nation of individuals who care, but also of a government that does not turn away in time of crisis.
The president has appointed a new "recovery czar" and still has a chance to stop those who seek to turn the nation away from its real responsibilities. The head of the Corps of Engineers, really the nation's engineer, needs to stop talking about issuing a report June 1 and take responsibility now.
That sort of responsible behavior would certainly stimulate conversation around the dinner table this Thanksgiving holiday, whether in FEMA trailers or the halls of Congress, and would give all Americans something to be thankful for.
. . . . . . .
Ivor van Heerden and Paul Kemp are disaster science specialists investigating the failure of the floodwalls. They may be contacted at gpkemp@lsu.edu.
Posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:28:45
In reply to New Orleans, posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:23:45
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/otheropinions/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1132989135136740.xml
Also from Times Picayune
New Orleans left behind again
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Anne BoydThe suffering of those who were left to fend for themselves after the storm shocked the nation. But where is the widespread outrage now, as the federal government once again abandons New Orleans?
Just when you think you can't be any more furious at how our government has failed us, another story appears about FEMA chief Michael Brown's mind-boggling lack of competence and compassion, the Army Corps of Engineers' failures to build adequate levees and now the president's and Congress' unwillingness to commit to rebuilding New Orleans.
The citizens of this entire region are in despair. You see it everywhere you go. We are still in shock over the destruction that laid waste to 80 percent of the city. To see the miles of now-blighted neighborhoods without a single living occupant is to know the meaning of hopelessness. I keep reminding myself that after every act of destruction follows inevitable rebirth and renewal. But despite the small signs here and there of recovery, those of us who have lost our homes and communities have yet to feel optimistic that our lives will ever return to normal here.We feel powerless in the face of so much devastation. Some of us comb through our flood-ravaged homes searching for any salvageable memento of our former lives. Others go a step further and haul out the entire water-logged contents of their homes and strip the walls down to the studs. But it is impossible to go much further than that. Where are we to begin when so much of the city is still without power and we can receive no assurances that our homes, should we rebuild them, will be safe from the next storm?
I, like most New Orleanians, have been focused on putting my own life back together. But now that our family is reunited, we are settled in a new apartment (although without furniture) and the insurance check has arrived in the mail, where do we go from here?
People ask us what we will do -- and not just family members. Strangers in the grocery store or at the playground want to know. Will you stay or will you go? Most of us don't know yet. It has become clear, however, that we can no longer just think about ourselves. For our individual futures are inextricably tied to the future of New Orleans.
The failures of the government to react to the aftermath of Katrina left most of this country feeling that we cannot count on the government in times of crisis. For decades now we have accepted the fact that we cannot rely on it for much of anything. But in times like this we need to overcome our impression that the government is a remote, inaccessible force. We need to remember that ours is supposed to be a government "by the people, for the people." The time is coming for us ordinary citizens to move beyond fighting with FEMA and our insurance companies and to begin an organized fight for this city.
Ours is a government that only acts when the world is watching. We cannot count on the president's or Congress' compassion. For as unbelievable as it seems that they would allow such a vital part of their own country to wither and die, it is becoming clear that is precisely what will happen if we do not act to keep the spotlight on New Orleans.
The suggestion by Rep. Charlie Melancon that residents march on Washington to make themselves heard is a sign that we are reaching a crisis point. Will the federal government take responsibility for the destruction that it caused here? (For the evidence is in that Katrina was not the "Big One" for which the city was unprepared, but a Category 3 storm the government had promised to protect us against.) Or will the citizens use the strongest weapon they have and organize civil protests?
If this happens, I hope that New Orleanians will not stand alone. I hope that the rest of the country will see our plight as their own.
For what has happened here can happen anywhere in America. The government has promised to protect all of us and has a responsibility to make reparations when it does not. Instead of only preparing our own individual survival plans (as citizens of the most vulnerable urban areas such as Washington, D.C., and San Francisco are being urged to do), we need to hold officials accountable to their promise.
A nation that cannot protect its own citizens is no longer a civil society.
. . . . . . .
Anne Boyd is an associate professor of English at the University of New Orleans. Her e-mail address is aeboyd@uno.edu.
Posted by ClearSkies on December 4, 2005, at 21:42:14
In reply to Re: New Orleans, posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:28:45
I wondered what your take on this would be.
ClearSkies
Posted by AuntieMel on December 5, 2005, at 12:35:57
In reply to Re: New Orleans, posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:28:45
In a small way, I think I can relate to what that feels like.
Much like the mid '80s when about a half million in the US oil industry saw their world fall apart and no one cared about those lost jobs, lost houses, lost hopes. The country not only seemed to not care, but seemed to enjoy our misery.
But when 5000 steel workers were set go the country took notice.
It feels like the world has turned it's back on you. It hurts, and then you just get so angry. I sometimes think it's time to undo the Lousiana Purchase.
Posted by Dinah on December 5, 2005, at 21:01:13
In reply to Dinah, I posted to you on Social, posted by ClearSkies on December 4, 2005, at 21:42:14
> Dinah, do you think that this is the kind of issue that might get attention by sending letters to our local representatives, members of Congress, and Senators?
I honestly think that's our only hope, Clear Skies. It's too big a problem for us to handle even on a statewide level. We're not that rich an area, or state, and we're in even worse state now, with less money coming in. I know the country is afraid to turn over money to our politicians, and I can't blame them. But we do need help, whoever holds the pursestrings.
If there's a groundswell from the American people, I think the Congress and the President will feel urgency to do something. Otherwise we're in huge trouble, and our very existence as anything approaching the city we were is in jeopardy.
One of our problems (in addition to the incomprehensible number of people who have lost everything and need personal help) is that companies and people are waiting to decide what to do until they hear about plans for protection from this happening again. Because this wasn't the big one, the one we all feared. It was the result of catastrophic failure of poorly designed and even more poorly constructed floodwalls designed and maintained by the Corps of Engineers.
Someone emailed me a site that has an email campaign going on that.
http://www.democracyinaction.org/GRN/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1521
The other problem is so enormous that I don't know where to start. I know a lot of the problems are caused by bureaucratic slowness. But a lot of it is pure tragedy. People not having flood insurance, or being underinsured. There are some proposals that people be allowed to buy into the flood insurance program retroactively by paying ten years' premiums, but there is a lot of resistance to that for fear of starting a bad precedent. The Red Cross has been great, but when your house, your job, your neighborhood, and the houses, jobs, and neighborhoods of your friends and family all go under at once... I don't even know where to start. People have lost so much. Mile after mile of devastation in parts of the city. People being discouraged from rebuilding their houses, because they don't want isolated homes among tons of blighted homes. But this is all people have... There is also some legislation, the Baker Plan, I think, being proposed to buy people out and put the land in a nonprofit development corporation so that people don't only have a ruined home, but a ruined home with a large mortgage that still has to be paid whether or not the home is still there (unless they declare bankruptcy).
It is just so overwhelming. And to make matters worse, New Orleans is a city with one of the largest percentage of people who were born here and lived here all their lives, often in the same neighborhoods. This is all we know.
Posted by Dinah on December 6, 2005, at 9:54:07
In reply to Re: New Orleans » Dinah, posted by AuntieMel on December 5, 2005, at 12:35:57
Mel, you're absolutely right. That is exactly how it feels. Thank you for understanding.
(I'm sorry you had to go through that oil crash. I remember it well. :( )
Posted by zeugma on December 8, 2005, at 14:59:51
In reply to Re: Dinah, I posted to you on Social » ClearSkies, posted by Dinah on December 5, 2005, at 21:01:13
rather sobering and depressing. it seems like i read the paper as an act of masochism. the times reports that the white house is fighting requests from congress to release millions of documents relating to their response to katrina. the public has no right to know anything.
all of a piece. can somebody on this board, who has a better dictionary than me, define the word 'trust'? my dictionary tells me not to trust...-z
Posted by Dinah on December 8, 2005, at 18:43:29
In reply to Re: Dinah, I posted to you on Social, posted by zeugma on December 8, 2005, at 14:59:51
Tell me about it. :(
I think I must have a pathological need to trust. I was feeling quite more positive after hearing that the Corps of Engineers was considering how to make the entire levee system (not just the parts that failed) up to true Category 3 strength. Even though they're the same Corps that was responsible for this disaster by designing and being responsible for the construction (if not actually constructing) levees that failed under Category 2 pressure.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1134028141231650.xml
I can't decide if I'm a masochist or just a survivalist as I compulsively read these reports.
Posted by AuntieMel on December 9, 2005, at 12:16:34
In reply to Re: New Orleans » AuntieMel, posted by Dinah on December 6, 2005, at 9:54:07
I remember understanding Scarlet O'Hara perfectly.
"As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again"
Posted by lil' jimi on December 13, 2005, at 15:11:21
In reply to New Orleans, posted by Dinah on December 4, 2005, at 20:23:45
hi Dinah,
this is from Christy Smith(aka Reddhedd) at FireDogLake. She offers her Holiday Plea on behalf of those suffering in New Orleans.
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_firedoglake_archive.html#113448888685330481in her post she sends us to:
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=uri:2005-12-12T201020Z_01_DIT272601_RTRUKOC_0_US-RETAIL-KATRINA.xml&pageNumber=0&summit=
>> > John Vollenweider -- aka Santa Claus -- is used to kids asking him for stuffed animals or remote control cars, but after Hurricane Katrina ripped apart New Orleans, the questions got much tougher."How will Santa find me? I'm not in my house any more," one child said....
"Can Santa make sure no more hurricanes get here?"...
"I tell them, 'Santa is magic. He'll find you wherever you are. He won't forget you,'" Vollenweider said, taking a break from listening to children's Christmas wishes on Monday.
To children who asked him to prevent future hurricanes, he said: "Santa will do his best, but some things even Santa can't control."
>> >so the citizens of New Orleans have to BEG for Washington's help? ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/13/national/nationalspecial/13advertisement.html?pagewanted=print
>> > A full-page advertisement - set to appear in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, paid for by former residents of the ravaged middle-class Lakeview section and billed as a "Message From Homeless New Orleanians" - pleads with Congress to pay for stronger levees.It also reminds the lawmakers that things are far from normal in a city where block after block remains ghostly and dark.
"Since the breakdown of the New Orleans flood protection system on August 29, 2005, we have lived like refugees in our own country," the advertisement says. "The residents of Lakeview and countless other displaced New Orleans communities are sending you this holiday wish in one voice - 'We want to go home.' "
>> >the reconstruction of New Orleans and the re-establishment and re-enforcement of her sea protection should be a vital national priority for all Americans.
New Orleans IS a vital cultural treasure and must be preserved.
And without any disrepect to our more extremely Libertarian friends, with whom i agree much of the time, it is a job that our government should do.
Please.~ texas loves new orleans too.
Posted by Dinah on December 13, 2005, at 20:10:31
In reply to Re: New Orleans » Dinah, posted by lil' jimi on December 13, 2005, at 15:11:21
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/opinion/11sun1.html?ex=1134968400&en=febf58baae52191b&ei=5070
Posted by Dinah on December 13, 2005, at 20:11:21
In reply to Re: New Orleans » Dinah, posted by lil' jimi on December 13, 2005, at 15:11:21
We New Orleanians are awful fond of Texans too.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Politics | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.