Katrina Hits The Big Easy! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Majed
- Start date
Fair enough Greg, but I think that what it was is NOT gone. The heart of New Orleans, the French quarter, faired pretty well. That's a big boost for it.
True that NOLA was in bad shape (Ok, very bad) before Katrina hit, but firstly, I don't think it was in a spiral going down. I've noticed many improvments in just 5 years living there. Anyhow, rebuilding will be tough, though the result (the city's fate) will depend on how much aid the city receives. The fact that it's a major port in a strategic area (Oil, near mouth of Mississippi River) should help a a bit.
True that NOLA was in bad shape (Ok, very bad) before Katrina hit, but firstly, I don't think it was in a spiral going down. I've noticed many improvments in just 5 years living there. Anyhow, rebuilding will be tough, though the result (the city's fate) will depend on how much aid the city receives. The fact that it's a major port in a strategic area (Oil, near mouth of Mississippi River) should help a a bit.
I gave some other numbers earlier on who clearly stated that Americans had more gunrelated deaths than the other 24 richest countries in the world. Doesn't really matter though, it's just that I think most people in countries like Belgium would react more civilised. In Belgium that is, not in Holland 
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The Vlaams Belang (which used to be Vlaams Blok) is only popular in Antwerp. I do admit that something is seriously wrong with that party and peope who vote for them. To put it boldly, they're no less than racists. What makes it all even harder to understand is that there aren't that much problems with immigrants anyway. Sure, not every corner in Antwerp is that safe, but you get that in every city.
I don't think a civil war would be inevitable though. We've always been known for our ability to construct compromises and there's only a fraction of the people who are that agressive and in favour of dividing Belgium.
I don't think a civil war would be inevitable though. We've always been known for our ability to construct compromises and there's only a fraction of the people who are that agressive and in favour of dividing Belgium.
The argument is that the Belgians have always been good at compromising because they've really never faced anything more than internal stability. Things are usually equalled out because Belgium is a stable, first world nation and pretty much always has been.
If the wealth were to go away, it's unlikely the situation would remain that stable. The theory is far more intense than that but I can't be bothered typing all of it down.
My point is that it's debatable the Belgians would react more civilised than the Dutch in situations of flood, for example.
If the wealth were to go away, it's unlikely the situation would remain that stable. The theory is far more intense than that but I can't be bothered typing all of it down.
My point is that it's debatable the Belgians would react more civilised than the Dutch in situations of flood, for example.
Oh, most definitely, Majed. The media make it out like the entire city is submerged when in fact there are wide swaths of nicer neighborhoods and areas that will come out of this relatively unscathed.
But still, I wouldn't call that the real New Orleans per se. That's more for the tourists and more of the facade. The heart of what runs the city and what gives it its lifeblood and muscle is in the 80% below the waterline, IMO. If you think about the source of NOLA's distinctive food, music, and culture, it's there, and not the more affluent Uptown, where you'll find the origin of all the things that make NOLA arguably the most unique city in America. And unfortunately, that area has been in decay for decades.
I really think a program akin to the WPA in the Great Depression will do the best for the city. Getting the people most affected employed in the public reconstruction is perhaps the strongest idea here. NOLA will be back stronger than ever. I don't question that. I just hope it doesn't come back as the plain, boxy, Wal-Mart-laden cultural wasteland that has taken over almost all other American cities and made them nearly identical save for the street names. That would be the greatest cultural loss of all, IMO.
But still, I wouldn't call that the real New Orleans per se. That's more for the tourists and more of the facade. The heart of what runs the city and what gives it its lifeblood and muscle is in the 80% below the waterline, IMO. If you think about the source of NOLA's distinctive food, music, and culture, it's there, and not the more affluent Uptown, where you'll find the origin of all the things that make NOLA arguably the most unique city in America. And unfortunately, that area has been in decay for decades.
I really think a program akin to the WPA in the Great Depression will do the best for the city. Getting the people most affected employed in the public reconstruction is perhaps the strongest idea here. NOLA will be back stronger than ever. I don't question that. I just hope it doesn't come back as the plain, boxy, Wal-Mart-laden cultural wasteland that has taken over almost all other American cities and made them nearly identical save for the street names. That would be the greatest cultural loss of all, IMO.
I don't think you can really tell in those situations unless you're in it, though.
While many people saw NOLA turn to mayhem and were in shocking awe, as terrible as it was I could only think of Thomas Hobbes and what he wrote in the Leviathan back in the 17th century: about life being reduced to being "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" if the conditions are set up for everyone to fend for themselves.
Centuries of civilization later, and some of the fundamentals of human nature haven't really changed.
While many people saw NOLA turn to mayhem and were in shocking awe, as terrible as it was I could only think of Thomas Hobbes and what he wrote in the Leviathan back in the 17th century: about life being reduced to being "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" if the conditions are set up for everyone to fend for themselves.
Centuries of civilization later, and some of the fundamentals of human nature haven't really changed.
Thanks, Dan!
You're officially the first person I've noticed who noticed. It's nice to be acknowledged.
The break was good. Pretty relaxing but yet filled with a few adventures on the Big Island of Hawaii. I landed there the night the hurricane hit, so it was weird witnessing all that from afar (particularly given that I've had many years of "on the ground" experience as a Red Cross disaster volunteer in a previous life). Being in Hawaii makes everything in the mainland U.S. seem a whole world away.
I may post a few pictures and stories elsewhere here if I can get my act together.
Hope all is well with you.
You're officially the first person I've noticed who noticed.
It's nice to be acknowledged.The break was good. Pretty relaxing but yet filled with a few adventures on the Big Island of Hawaii. I landed there the night the hurricane hit, so it was weird witnessing all that from afar (particularly given that I've had many years of "on the ground" experience as a Red Cross disaster volunteer in a previous life). Being in Hawaii makes everything in the mainland U.S. seem a whole world away.
I may post a few pictures and stories elsewhere here if I can get my act together.
Hope all is well with you.
Actually, most of the parts that are submerged are not that important (or they don't contain anything unique anyway). I still don't know how bad the Area of St. Charles on either side of I10 got hit. That area has a good source of what you're talking about. That's nott too far from the convention center or from Uptown. The only culturally important places that i know that got flooded bad is Magazine St. and Esplanade I, and Tulane avenue think.
A lot of the 80% that's flooded is City park, which is not really important anyway.
I'm sorry, but if you mean by "real" New Orleans as East of Elysian Fields, then I don't think much is lost. That side doesn't have anything special that other areas, which aren't flooded, doesn't.
Again, I think that Jackson square is the unique heart of the city. That didn't get flooded bad, so there's hope.
:thumb: I can't agree more. Many of them could use jobs too.
A lot of the 80% that's flooded is City park, which is not really important anyway.
I'm sorry, but if you mean by "real" New Orleans as East of Elysian Fields, then I don't think much is lost. That side doesn't have anything special that other areas, which aren't flooded, doesn't.
Again, I think that Jackson square is the unique heart of the city. That didn't get flooded bad, so there's hope.
:thumb: I can't agree more. Many of them could use jobs too.
++ [ originally posted by swag ] ++
Thanks, Dan!
You're officially the first person I've noticed who noticed. It's nice to be acknowledged.
The break was good. Pretty relaxing but yet filled with a few adventures on the Big Island of Hawaii. I landed there the night the hurricane hit, so it was weird witnessing all that from afar (particularly given that I've had many years of "on the ground" experience as a Red Cross disaster volunteer in a previous life). Being in Hawaii makes everything in the mainland U.S. seem a whole world away.
I may post a few pictures and stories elsewhere here if I can get my act together.
Hope all is well with you.
Thanks, Dan!
You're officially the first person I've noticed who noticed.
It's nice to be acknowledged.The break was good. Pretty relaxing but yet filled with a few adventures on the Big Island of Hawaii. I landed there the night the hurricane hit, so it was weird witnessing all that from afar (particularly given that I've had many years of "on the ground" experience as a Red Cross disaster volunteer in a previous life). Being in Hawaii makes everything in the mainland U.S. seem a whole world away.
I may post a few pictures and stories elsewhere here if I can get my act together.
Hope all is well with you.
So a red cross volunteer eh? Im convinced I was beheaded in the French revolution in a previous life.. where were you to help then?