Today, it’s been three years since the opening of the Louisiana Superdome’s roof during Katrina.That event now appears decades ago.
Also, today, as Gustav churns in the Gulf, many of our lives are churn with fear.
As the bells ring later today helping us to remember the lost lives, the destroyed families, the untold miseries, the angers, and the overriding hopelessness that existed because of Katrina, many of us are now thinking contraflows, evacuations, and splitting up of nuclear families which could occur due to Gustav.
We know that no bells will return the lost futures from Katrina.No excuse will explain how the United States abandoned its own people, how incompetency broke New Orleans, how lawlessness ran rampant for days, and then how America gave their hearts so New Orleans and surrounding areas could have one more chance.
As Gustav decides to collide with Louisiana or elsewhere, I personally must be thankful for the ingenuity, the sheer fortitude of the people who decided to rebuild in a City that perhaps with the stroke of bad faith, could be lost forever.
I have said for years, that the community that stayed to rebuild New Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquesmines, St. Tammany and other parishes have been the pioneers, the heroes, the brave, and the daring.
This week, we could discover if they are the most foolish.
On Friday, the heads of Homeland Security and FEMA joined Governor Bobby Jindal in solidarity.Three years ago, we did not have this monolith before the storm and certainly not after Katrina.
As Gustav approaches and the Katrina anniversary fade, our new Governor Bobby Jindal is getting the support and the kudos from around the state even before the first gale wind crosses our border.He should be praised for setting a tone of confidence, for urging us to be prepared, for outlining details.Today as timelines begin to crystallize, he will have hard decisions to make if fate closes its eyes upon us.
But, three years ago, there were another set of eyes belonging to Kathleen Blanco.Yes, those teared on national television as she saw her state destroyed and the horrible unfold.Honestly, my own eyes have cried many deaths, over and over, again and again since the breaking of the Dome.If she was weak for being emotional, then I have been horribly weak for being human.
Governor Blanco was ridiculed as being indecisive, and even dumb.If anything, the success of Bobby Jindal is in many respects built upon the post-Katrina successes of Governor Kathleen Blanco.No, she was not perfect, she made mistakes as did others, but, she fought tirelessly for the people of Louisiana against those who wanted her to fail.
So, the pages of Katrina will turn and the fears of Gustav will unfold.We will compare the new systems to the old the intersection of federal, state and local governments interfaced and failed.
Politically, some of our leaders will be honored and others will be vilified.In reality, it seems that some homes could be destroyed while others might be spared.Sometimes, life is just that unfair.
Today is a remembrance of an old and the beginning of new reality.The image of Katrina falls upon us.The fear of Gustav still lies in our path.
Concrete Brain, or "written by", whatever, you are a fool. Next time please say in two sentences and one post what you want to say so the rest of us don't need to read your dribble.
Written by Frankly Speaking
on 8/29/2008
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Today is Friday, Aug. 29, the 242nd day of 2008. There are 124 days left in the year….. On this day in 284 a.d. - Gen Gaius Aurelius V Diocletianus Jovius (3) becomes emperor of Rome…On this day in 1533 Atahualpa, the last ruler of the Incas, was murdered as Francisco Pizarro completed his conquest of Peru…… On this day in 1786, Shays's rebellion, an insurrection of Massachusetts farmers against the state government, began……… It was considered to be an unfair tax that disadvantaged farmer’s ability to barter, or convert their grains in liquor that could be transported farther and still make a profit…… In 1792 on this day, the English warship Royal George capsizes in Spithead; kills 900 men and a parrot… on this day in 1793 - Slaves in the French colony of St Domingue (Haiti) were freed… Martin Luther King Jr’s. Great-great-great grandpa wasn’t there, and neither were the Black Panthers…….. On this day in 1883 - Seismic sea waves created by Krakatoa eruption half way around the world from Europe shielded by no less than 3 continents creates a rise in English Channel 32 hrs after the explosion…1885 - Gottlieb Daimler receives German patent for a motorcycle…….. Later on Otto Gustav who was a German began designing and manufacturing aircraft………. Ahhhh,, but those Chinese!!!! On this day in 1896 Chop suey was invented in New York City by a chef of a visiting Chinese Ambassador… Takee Outies sprang up all over New Orleans in later years and they featured this Chinese inspired northern dish….. On this day in 1909, the world's 1st air race held in Rheims France. Glenn Curtiss (USA) wins… He later formed the Curtis aircraft company and his aircraft was the first aircraft to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean from the United States… Speaking of Ocean’s and travel, on this day in 1914, the U.S.S. Arizonian was the 1st vessel to arrive in SF via the Panama Canal…….. Ahhhh, but there goes those Chinese again….. On this day in 1916, the Transport ship Hsin-Yu and cruiser Hai-Yung collide; 1000 die people die, and tons of chop suey got waterlogged….. On Aug. 29, 1944, 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis. A couple of years later the French resumed their snobbish attitude towards us……. And on this day in 1945 President Harry Truman, (D) who had previously authorized the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima with nuclear bombs appointed General Douglas MacArthur as the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers in Japan…. Of course that didn’t last to much longer….. Ehhhh,, old soldiers never die, they just fade away…….. But Russia now, on this day in 1949 the U.S.S.R. explodes their first atomic bomb, and in the quest of improvement, on this day in 1953, the U.S.S.R explodes its 1st hydrogen bomb…………….
In 1957 Strom Thurmond ended the longest filibuster in U.S. Senate history. He spoke for more than 24 hours against a civil rights bill; the bill passed anyways… Largely due to Republicans, who incidentally were the major factor of the passage of the Civil rights act in 1964……… Osama Obama was not present at neither of those two events….. And neither was Bill Clinton…. On this day in 1962 a U.S. U-2 flight sees SAM launch pads in Cuba, and Kennedy is informed….. And on this day in 1964, Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" was released….. Just goes to show that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down I suppose…… And the next year, on this day in 1965, Gemini V, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic after eight days in space……………………… and on this day in 1970, Black Panthers confront cops in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love….. (1 cop killed)….. And on this day in 1990 - Saddam Hussein declares America can't beat Iraq………. I guess Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell showed him different now didn’t they???? And on this day in 1991. The Supreme Soviet, which is the parliament of the U.S.S.R., suspended all activities of the Communist Party, bringing an end to the institution……… Or so we thought….. And on this day in 2005 I saw a terrible nightmare live on CNN while I was up in North Carolina…….. New Orleans was flooded…… I immediately began plans for an update to my website, and began considering provisions of aid I could make available for the State of Louisiana so that this kind of thing would never happen again to New Orleans….. (I had left Louisiana several months earlier for what I thought was going to be “for good” after having it out with some morons that ‘Babs’ had running the Governor’s office of coastal restoration…… And today, in 2008, I see that Piyush has pretty much the same kind of ineffective leadership traits and abilities…. Oh well Gesundheit….) Well, I guess I need to get to waxing up my surf board, may as well enjoy myself…….
Written by
on 8/29/2008
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Today, it’s been three years since the opening of the Louisiana Superdome’s roof during Katrina.
