National Shame

[Toad]

Rant on:

I am ashamed at our response to the Katrina disaster. There are some heros but much incompetence. The heros are hard to name because they are largely not on camera and are out doing the real work. People like the USCG rescue teams, NOLA police who have not abandon their jobs, medical workers who have stayed on duty in terrible conditions, common people helping neighbors. These are the Americans I expect to see in such a situation similar to what we saw after 9-11. I think I will even put the CNN reporters on the hero list because they are better informed than the "officials" and are pitching in to help besides just covering the story.

The list of incompetent individuals is easy to pick out because they are on camera talking complete BS. The radio interview with NOLA Mayor Ray Nagin was right on target. He is a straight talking, call it like you see it, guy who named names (put him on the hero list). Mike Brown Director of FEMA is on the top of the list for "help is on the way" parrots. Next is the Governor of Louisiana and the Senator (the one with blond hair that won't shut up). All they say is we have so many of this and that coming or in place, complementing each other on their efforts, while in actual fact the city is in complete chaos and citizens are dying on unsafe streets. Let's not forget our Corps of Eng. who are putting sand on holes in the levies with helicopters (road construction on the 836 will go faster than this). If there is a LA National Guard, where the hell are they and what are they doing? It is day 5 without food & water being air dropped to stranded people. The evacuation has not been half way completed. Police are defending their stations while gangs roam the street. Where is our Army & Navy? The river is open and passable which could easily give delivery to all supplies and equipment by military vessels.

Rant off.

[Tubby]

I agree with your post. If the news media is not willing to help including the cameramen they need to get out. If CNN is help good for them, but my guess most of the media is sitting around in a/c trucks enjoying a cold drink waiting for something to happen.

Add the State of Texas to the top of your list.

[Toad]

.

Add the State of Texas to the top of your list.

Yes, hurray Texas!

[jzt]

Yes, hurray Texas!

I have to agree with this. They have really opened their doors.

[Toad]

I thought I had already heard some of the most ludicrous statements possible until Anderson Cooper interviewed Rev. Jesse Jackson tonight. Jesse is adamant that race is the cause of the current suffering and it dates back to slave ships continuing through the construction of the broken levies now hurting the black man, up to the present lack of food & water is all a conspiracy against the black man. Because he saw thousand of blacks on the street today, and "a few blacks carrying away TVs" he is convinced race is a factor in the slow response. I wonder if Jesse has checked the racial profile of NOLA to see why he would see many blacks in that city? Jesse is a professional racist and should be placed ahead of the Governor of LA as the biggest ass hat to be interviewed so far. If a white man said anything close to what Jesse suggests against blacks he would be jailed for a hate crime.

[d-o-b]

I thought I had already heard some of the most ludicrous statements possible until Anderson Cooper interview Rev. Jesse Jackson tonight. Jesse is adamant that race is the cause of the current suffering and it dates back to slave ships continuing through the construction of the broken levies now hurting the black man, up to the present lack of food & water is all a conspiracy against the black man. Because he saw thousand of blacks on the street today, and "a few blacks carrying away TVs" he is convinced race is a factor in the slow response. I wonder if Jesse has checked the racial profile of NOLA to see why he would see many blacks in that city? Jesse is a professional racist and should be placed ahead of the Governor of LA as the biggest ass hat to be interviewed so far. If a white man said anything close to what Jesse suggests against blacks he would be jailed for a hate crime.
I always thought that guy was an asshole, but after he went to Venezuela last week to simpatize with Chavez after Pat's statements, I am now sure he's a stupid ass.!!!!

[Best Teach]

I always thought that guy was an asshole, but after he went to Venezuela last week to simpatize with Chavez after Pat's statements, I am now sure he's a stupid ass.!!!!


Don't even get me started...giving Chavez his ass and then having the audacity to talk about violation of human rights in LA.

[Hilly]

We live in a gansta culture. Our young people glorify everything about gangsta style, gangsta justice, gangsta values, etc. And our society is right there feeding into the gansta frenzy because--surprise--it is marketable and lucrative. So are we really shocked and amazed that after the Katrina disaster many youth and young adults resorted to thug-mentality?

[Non Member]

Hilly,

Except for the people there, no one know what happnened during the lawlessness in LA. You are assuming it was 'many youths' who were changed by the circumstances of the hurricane into thugs. I would bet they were thugs before the hurricane.

Most youth know the difference in wearing baggy pants to 'look cool' and shooting at rescuers.

The glorification of the 'gangsta' mentality has long been a part of our culture; whether it's Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, Don Corleone or some current thug.

[Hilly]

Hilly,

Except for the people there, no one know what happnened during the lawlessness in LA. You are assuming it was 'many youths' who were changed by the circumstances of the hurricane into thugs.


I saw it with my own eyes on several live broadcasts. I still stand by "many youths." But perhaps some of them stole televisions and shot at cops before the hurricane.

The glorification of the 'gangsta' mentality has long been a part of our culture; whether it's Jesse James, Bonnie and Clyde, Don Corleone or some current thug.


We as a nation produce and embrace a pop culture that glorifies rap and hip-hop music, that teaches men to prey upon women and engage in senseless violence. I think that the raping and beating and pillaging and murdering in LA define not just New Orleans, but American culture.

We continue to make ever more graphic and violent video games for our children and weve allowed selfish messages to have a powerful voice in our culture. This has gone waaaaay behond wearing baggy pants.

[TD]

don't you think men preyed on women and people engaged in senseless violence before rap music, before television even? i do. it is our nature to be violent sadly. of course before television the looters weren't stealing televisions, because of course there was no television. they probably stole old radios and victrolas. and there were no best buys or wal marts, so they probably had to make multiple looting stops at different general stores and stuff. just my guess.

[Donna]

I was sad to read that two New Orleans police officers committed suicide. It must seem pretty hopeless to many right now.

I was impressed with the Canadian guy who owns the racetrack in Boynton, organizing so much help so quickly. In 48 hours he had arranged transportation and set up his dorms for people. They are already here and getting clean clothes, clean beds, food, and medical care. He will house them until October at which time he will have a mobile home community on site in LA for them. I wish all relief efforts had been as well executed as his.

[Non Member]

I saw it with my own eyes on several live broadcasts. I still stand by "many youths." But perhaps some of them stole televisions and shot at cops before the hurricane.

We as a nation produce and embrace a pop culture that glorifies rap and hip-hop music, that teaches men to prey upon women and engage in senseless violence. I think that the raping and beating and pillaging and murdering in LA define not just New Orleans, but American culture.

We continue to make ever more graphic and violent video games for our children and weve allowed selfish messages to have a powerful voice in our culture. This has gone waaaaay behond wearing baggy pants.
Hilly,

You express moral outrage about pop culture; but where is your rage about the thousands of people left to die because of inaction and beaurocratic inertia?

Who gives a crap about rap music when babies and the elderly dies in the streets for lack of food and water?

This is a national shame.

[jzt]

Hilly,

You express moral outrage about pop culture; but where is your rage about the thousands of people left to die because of inaction and beaurocratic inertia?

Who gives a crap about rap music when babies and the elderly dies in the streets for lack of food and water?

This is a national shame.


I'm with you Yoga.

Plus, there is always some type of culture that bothers the elders. A long time ago it used to be Elvis' hips.

[Hilly]

Hilly,

You express moral outrage about pop culture; but where is your rage about the thousands of people left to die because of inaction and beaurocratic inertia?

Well of course I'm dismayed about that, along with everybody else. Sheesh! It's not an either/or thing here, Yoga. My point about our culture was intended to be another part of the discussion as to why some people turned into animals.

Here is another part of the shame: did you see those hundreds of school busses submerged in water, unused, that the mayor could have utilized to evacuate those who lacked the transportation/funds to leave? Outrageous.

[Non Member]

Hilly,
I think there is enough blame out there for everyone involved.

[Toad]

This plan has fraud written all over it. I wonder what the street value of a $2k card will be? I wonder how many dead people will be issued cards? How many lap dances can you get with a card? ;)

Katrina Victims to Get $2K Debit Cards
Sep 7, 2:14 PM (ET)

By DEVLIN BARRETT
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government plans to begin doling out debit cards worth $2,000 each to adult victims of Hurricane Katrina, The Associated Press has learned.

Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff descibed the plan in a conference call with state officials Wednesday morning. The unprecedented cash card program initially will benefit stranded people who have been moved to major rescue centers such as the Houston Astrodome.

"They are going to start issuing debit cards, $2,000 per adult, today (Wednesday) at the Astrodome," said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The cards could be used to buy food, transportation, gas and other essentials, according to a state official who was on the call and requested anonymity because the program has not been publicly announced.

The available money - $13 billion in all - will be distributed from the federal Disaster Relief Fund, said FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule. She said FEMA was setting up registration centers in shelters in Houston and Dallas where evacuees could obtain the cards.

FEMA is working to set up similar registration centers in other shelters across the country, Rule said, and evacuees can also get the debit cards by calling 1-800-621-FEMA or going to the agency's web site at .http://www.fema.gov

The cards will be issued on a one-per-household basis, Rule said, and are open only to victims who were forced from their homes during the hurricane and its aftermath. As a safeguard against fraud, FEMA will use aerial photographs of devastated areas to verify that the refugees were, indeed, forced from their homes in cases where they cannot provide documents to prove their losses or identities.

"We've got a huge population of people that have been evacuated with very little by way of possessions and we have to have a way to make sure these people can function," Rule said. "If there are those who are out there to cheat the system, that is going to be very disappointing. But the main goal is to get the aid out."

In Boston, Gov. Mitt Romney said the cards will be offered "to people in shelters as well as people who are not in shelters but who have evacuated the area and need help." He said the hope is the cards will encourage people to leave shelters voluntarily.

It's unclear how much the debit card program will cost the government, but it's likely to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars since hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

[happydad]

Here is another part of the shame: did you see those hundreds of school busses submerged in water, unused, that the mayor could have utilized to evacuate those who lacked the transportation/funds to leave? Outrageous.

I think most of the bus drivers were busy trying to save their own family's lives and possessions. Do you blame them?

[Toad]

Under that logic there would be no emergency responders because each would be busy with their own affairs which is exactly what happened with the local police.

I think most of the bus drivers were busy trying to save their own family's lives and possessions. Do you blame them?

[happydad]

Under that logic there would be no emergency responders because each would be busy with their own affairs which is exactly what happened with the local police.

That's exactly why the local authorities did not have any chance to help the other residents - and why federal assistance should have been dispatched immediately to the area.

[Toad]

You are greasing up the political slope which I won't step on, but I do think there is a sense of duty as some levels. Bus drivers, well maybe not, but police yes. If you put on the badge you are sworn to serve, not run like a school girl.

That's exactly why the local authorities did not have any chance to help the other residents - and why federal assistance should have been dispatched immediately to the area.

[Best Teach]

I think most of the bus drivers were busy trying to save their own family's lives and possessions. Do you blame them?


Well, I remember before Hurricane Andrew bus services were provided to the elderly, disabled, and to people that lived in the evacuation zones. Was anything similar offered in LA?

[Hilly]

I think most of the bus drivers were busy trying to save their own family's lives and possessions. Do you blame them?

With several days of warning, I would think many paid bus drivers could multi-task. Yes, I think more people could have been evacuated sooner, and I do beleive those buses could have helped.

[billuscher]

Should I worry about the dikes that surround Lake Okeechobee. If those dikes broke the cities of Clewiston, South Bay, Belle Glade and the surrounding areas would be devastated. And perhaps Weston. Will this be the next major disaster.

It happened before and thousands were killed.

[Toad]

That's an excellent point. Does anyone know the hurricane rating on those dikes?

Should I worry about the dikes that surround Lake Okeechobee. If those dikes broke the cities of Clewiston, South Bay, Belle Glade and the surrounding areas would be devastated. And perhaps Weston. Will this be the next major disaster.

It happened before and thousands were killed.

[Tubby]

Maybe we should ask. If the dike(s) would blowout what area would be effected by heavy flooding of 3+ feet. I'm sure we would all be effected by some flooding which way should we swim/run/bike/drive?

That's an excellent point. Does anyone know the hurricane rating on those dikes?

[rogelah]

Maybe we should ask. If the dike(s) would blowout what area would be effected by heavy flooding of 3+ feet. I'm sure we would all be effected by some flooding which way should we swim/run/bike/drive?
The dike is known as The Herbert Hoover Dike. It is about 140 miles long, wide as a football field and 30 feet high. It took 30 years to build and was finished in about 1965. It is mostly earth with steel and concrete locks to let boats and water in and out.

It is leaking and will breach in high water conditions.

[Toad]

What is the forecasted result in the case of a breach?

The dike is known as The Herbert Hoover Dike. It is about 140 miles long, wide as a football field and 30 feet high. It took 30 years to build and was finished in about 1965. It is mostly earth with steel and concrete locks to let boats and water in and out.

It is leaking and will breach in high water conditions.

[rogelah]

What is the forecasted result in the case of a breach?I'm not sure. I know the lake sometimes is low on water and if there is more than average rainfall in the Kissimee River Basin (generally the area south of Orlando around the Kissimee River, Lake Okeechobee and the historic Everglades--menaing it doesn't include the Big Cypress Swamp) the level of the lake can rise substantially.

The Army Corps of Engineers uses the lake to manage drainage. Perhaps if this were not true during last year's multilple hurricanes that dropped a lot of water in that area we would have stood a chance of being flooded.

I haven't been to the lake in a while and don't recall what the average levels of water are. I seem to recall that 4 feet was considered on the dry side, 7 feet being average and 14 feet is the highest I think I remember.

It is interesting to note that most of the water is from rainfall. But it is also fed from natural springs. One aquifer actually starts in Tennessee, flows under Georgia and Florida and empties into Florida Bay

[Toad]

Think of the critters we would have in such flood. The gators and snakes would keep me on the roof for a long time.

[Toad]

New Orleans strip joint wants to get back to work
Sep 12, 11:17 AM (ET)

By Jason Webb

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - There's no water for the "wash the girl of your choice" service and there aren't any girls either, but Big Daddy's strip club on New Orleans' Bourbon Street is getting ready to bring back erotic spectacle to the devastated city.

Friday night on Bourbon Street, usually a throbbing artery of the party-going French Quarter, was pretty grim this time around in what has become a foul-smelling ghost town partly covered with a swamp of filthy water.

Police patrol cars and military Humvees made up most of the traffic on the street.

But Big Daddy's general manager, Saint Jones, and a band of helpers defied an evacuation order by arriving to clean up their premises in the historic French Quarter, which escaped largely unscathed from the floods.

Jones told Reuters he would open for business as soon as he could get electricity, water and dancers.

He was already had electricity from a generator, which was moving a pair of robotic woman's legs, in stockings and pink high heels, waving invitingly on the street by the sign for Big Daddy's.

He also had plenty of bottled water.

But his former employees had been evacuated, so his main problem was convincing girls to come to a town without services and supposedly off limits to most civilians.

But Jones, a corpulent man with a strawberry blond beard wearing a black t-shirt reading "I'm smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet," foresaw few problems getting strippers.

"It shouldn't be too hard. Everyone's going to come back in town and want to work. You know, if you've got 50 dancers in Houston and they're not making money, they're going to spread out," he said.

Judging from the number of military and police vehicles which stopped or slowed passing Big Daddy's, they'll have plenty of customers. It didn't seem to occur to the men in uniform to enforce the evacuation order in effect on the city -- they preferred to ask when the strippers would be back.

One army Humvee, carrying a team of Puerto Rican troops, stopped so that a soldier could pose with his M16 rifle by a life-size picture of a naked blonde while his buddy took a photo.

Jones gave them vodka on the rocks in plastic cups, which they enjoyed before hopping back in the Humvee.

Big Daddy's sign advertises several attractions, including "Bottomless. Topless. Table top dancing," and "Wash the girl of your choice."

This last item seemed to provide a business challenge in a city where the scant running water available in some districts is infected with feces and toxic loads of bacteria.

But Jones was undaunted.

"We'll make sure they get showers," he said.

Of course, Jones will fail in his ambition if he is compelled to evacuate.

One of his helpers, Vietnam veteran Terry Fredricks, who has temporarily moved into the strip joint because his home is flooded, said they would only leave if they were forced to go but they would go peacefully if it came to that.

Jones maintained his optimism. Asked about the identity of his potential customers, he replied, inaccurately as it happens, "probably you."

[d-o-b]

"We'll make sure they get showers," he said.

Important!!!!!

[Donna]

I just read where President Bush accepted full responsibility for the problems with federal response in LA and said that this does cast doubt on our ability to handle terrorist attacks. He said they were going to investigate what went right and what went wrong.

Very seldom do I have anything nice to say about this President, but I am happy that he has echoed the fears of many of us about how well prepared we are for both natural and man-made (terrorist) disasters. I don't know that he needs to speak about in on Tv tonight, but as a politician he wants to improve his ratings. I'm glad he see that we have a problem and maybe someone can fix it.

[dianepmny]

I think he did the right thing. I like his "buck stops here" attitude and totally respect this move.

Firing Brown was also a good move.

Now I'm curious to see if the mayor of New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, et al are going to be admitting any wrongdoing on their parts. I predict a whole lotta pie hole flappin' in the coming days.

[Toad]

Money Earmarked for Evacuation Redirected

Sep 17, 2:36 PM (ET)

By RITA BEAMISH


As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say.

The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan.

"They never used it for the intended purpose," said former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. "The whole intent was to give them resources so they could plan an evacuation of New Orleans that anticipated that a very large number of people would never leave."

In Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, attention has focused on the inability of local and federal officials to evacuate or prepare for the large number of poor people, many of them minorities, who had no access to transportation and remained behind.


That possibility was one of the concerns that led Congress in 1997 to set aside $500,000 for FEMA to create "a comprehensive analysis and plan of all evacuation alternatives for the New Orleans metropolitan area."

Frustrated two years later that nothing materialized, Congress strengthened its directive. This time it ordered "an evacuation plan for a Category 3 or greater storm, a levee break, flood or other natural disaster for the New Orleans area."

The $500,000 that Congress appropriated for the evacuation plan went to a commission that studied future options for the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said.

The hefty report produced by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission "primarily was not about evacuation," said Robert Lambert, the general manager for the bridge expressway. "In general it was an overview of all the things we need to do" for the causeway through 2016.

Lambert said he could not trace how or if FEMA money came to the commission. Nor could Shelby LaSalle, a causeway consulting engineer who worked on the plan.

LaSalle said it would be "ludicrous" to consider his report an evacuation plan, although it had a transportation evacuation section, dated Dec. 19, 1997. That part was tacked on mainly to promote the causeway for future designation as an official evacuation route, LaSalle said.

"We didn't do anything for FEMA," he added.

Asked why the congressional mandate was never fulfilled, Barry Scanlon, senior vice president in the consulting firm of former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, said he believes the agency did what it needed when it gave the money to the state.

"FEMA received an earmark which it processed through to the state as instructed by Congress," Scanlon said. Witt is now a private consultant to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La., on the Katrina aftermath.

Tauzin said he, too, could never find out where the money went. "They gave it to the causeway commission? That's wacky," he said.

At the time eight years ago, the Louisiana delegation had plenty of political muscle to get the money. Then-Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which controls the government's purse strings.

Livingston, now a lobbyist, said he could not explain what happened either, although he knew of other predictive hurricane studies over the years.

"Do I wish the study had been made? Sure, but now that's by the boards. We're doing the best we can right now to repair and rebuild," he said.

FEMA typically contracts its studies to private or government entities. Kinerney, the agency spokesman, said it appeared the money went through the Louisiana government. State emergency and transportation officials said they did not recall it.

After nothing came of its first directive, FEMA addressed the need for an evacuation plan "off and on" over the years, Kinerney said. Last year, the agency undertook the massive "Hurricane Pam" project that was supposed to create a comprehensive emergency plan for New Orleans.

That work was unfinished when Katrina struck, though its first phase involved an elaborate hurricane simulation that was eerily predictive of Katrina's disaster.

Asked about any earlier FEMA-funded plan, Mark Smith, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said, "To the best of our knowledge we can find no information on this."

Congress' 1999 language directed that FEMA consult with that state agency as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

FEMA's parent agency, the Homeland Security Department, did provide $75,000 to print 1 million evacuation maps that were distributed this year for the state's updated transportation evacuation blueprint, state transportation spokesman Mark Lambert said.

That plan used phased evacuation orders and reverse-flow traffic patterns to avoid the highway snarls New Orleans saw during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

But that plan was designed for traffic management, not to provide transportation or contingencies for the infirm, elderly and poor who could not get out on their own, officials said.

[happydad]

I think he did the right thing. I like his "buck stops here" attitude and totally respect this move.

Please, it was all PR meant to stop the steep criticism and backlash.

[Toad]

New Orleans strip joint wants to get back to work
Sep 12, 11:17 AM (ET)

By Jason Webb

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - There's no water for the "wash the girl of your choice" service and there aren't any girls either, but Big Daddy's strip club on New Orleans' Bourbon Street is getting ready to bring back erotic spectacle to the devastated city.

Friday night on Bourbon Street, usually a throbbing artery of the party-going French Quarter, was pretty grim this time around in what has become a foul-smelling ghost town partly covered with a swamp of filthy water.

Police patrol cars and military Humvees made up most of the traffic on the street.

But Big Daddy's general manager, Saint Jones, and a band of helpers defied an evacuation order by arriving to clean up their premises in the historic French Quarter, which escaped largely unscathed from the floods.

Jones told Reuters he would open for business as soon as he could get electricity, water and dancers.

He was already had electricity from a generator, which was moving a pair of robotic woman's legs, in stockings and pink high heels, waving invitingly on the street by the sign for Big Daddy's.

He also had plenty of bottled water.

But his former employees had been evacuated, so his main problem was convincing girls to come to a town without services and supposedly off limits to most civilians.

But Jones, a corpulent man with a strawberry blond beard wearing a black t-shirt reading "I'm smiling because they haven't found the bodies yet," foresaw few problems getting strippers.

"It shouldn't be too hard. Everyone's going to come back in town and want to work. You know, if you've got 50 dancers in Houston and they're not making money, they're going to spread out," he said.

."


Strippers help tease back New Orleans nightlife

Sep 22, 8:32 AM (ET)

Exotic dancer "Alex" entertains patrons at Deja Vu Showgirls during the strip club's second day of...
Full Image


By Matt Daily

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - In a sign that things may be returning to normal in New Orleans, strip shows are back in the city's famous French Quarter.

Erotic dancers and strippers are entertaining crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel instead of the usual audiences of drunken conventioneers and tourists in Bourbon Street's Deja Vu club, which reopened this week.

It's the first strip joint to resume business, three weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck in the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States.

"It's nice to get back to work, and all these men need some entertainment," Dawn Beasley, 27, a dancer at the club, said on Tuesday night. "They haven't seen anybody but their buddies for two weeks."

The crowd hooted and hollered as women peeled off their tops and gyrated, as customers tucked tips into their G-strings.

"This is our first time off the ship and it's great," said one young sailor as he left the club. He declined to give his name or say where he was stationed.

"It's good to see the businesses getting back up and bringing the city back," another sailor said.

New Orleans' strip clubs have long been a fixture of Bourbon Street, where marquees promise everything from "barely legal" dancers to transvestite divas. Photos of the seedy shows inside the clubs line the windows, next to scores of bars in the district that draws tourists from around the globe.

The city's dusk-to-dawn curfew failed to prevent the Deja Vu from staying open to the early hours, with blaring music and neon lights spilling out into the Quarter, most of which remained bathed in darkness in the aftermath of the storm.

"We were open till two last night, just long enough to get the testosterone flowing," Beasley said.

Only a handful of restaurants and bars in the Quarter have reopened in recent days, serving food and drinks -- usually without charge -- to rescue workers and military who stream through the mostly empty streets. The Deja Vu waived its cover charge, drinks were selling for $3 and a private dance was available for just $1.

For Deja Vu manager Brent Ardeneaux, reopening was a public service.

"It's a disaster zone. You got a lot of people in from out of town that need entertaining," he said as he unloaded supplies from the back of a pick-up truck.

The club even drew several women looking for a respite from their duties patrolling the city, but they resisted entreaties to join the others on stage and left after a few minutes.

One of them, a soldier, said: "We were just looking for any place open. We've been working hard."

[Toad]

Big Easy Leaders Upset Over Cleanup Jobs

Oct 7, 1:54 PM (ET)

By ADAM NOSSITER

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - They clear rotten seafood from stinking restaurant freezers, wash excrement from the floors of the Superdome, rip out wads of soaked insulation. The work is hot, nasty and critical to the recovery of New Orleans. And yet, many of the workers are not actually from New Orleans.

Many of those engaged in the huge cleanup and reconstruction effort here - nobody has an exact count - are immigrants, both legal and illegal, from Mexico and Central America. Meanwhile, as many as 80,000 New Orleanians sit idle in shelters around the country.

They are out of work, homeless and destitute. That irks some civic and union leaders.

"I've got nothing against our Hispanic brothers, but we have a whole lot of skilled laborers in shelters that could be doing this work," said Oliver Thomas, president of the City Council. "We could put a whole lot of money in the pockets of New Orleanians by doing this reconstruction work."


Roman Feher, an organizer with the Laborers Union, said: "It's really a shame. We're trying to get people back on their feet. The last thing we need is contractors bringing people in from out-of-state."

Mayor Ray Nagin added his voice to the chorus this week, telling local business people: "How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?"

At the same time, interviews with some Katrina evacuees suggest New Orleanians are in no big hurry to return for these jobs. In fact, many Katrina evacuees have been landing jobs in communities around the country.

"Other guys out here in Houston and other areas of the state, we have better opportunities to make money here," New Orleans truck driver Wayne Cousin said at a refugee shelter in Houston.

The situation in New Orleans is part of a controversial pattern seen across the country: Immigrants are often willing to do the dirty jobs many Americans won't take.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represents much of New Orleans, said they are trying to pressure federal authorities to ensure that government cleanup contracts use Louisiana labor. But private companies are free to hire outsiders, and state officials say they are powerless to do more than urge local hiring.

"Our position is, we want these businesses to hire Louisiana people first," said Ed Pratt, a spokesman for the Louisiana Labor Department. "If they are hiring out-of-state Hispanics, we can't control that."

The contractors insist they would be happy to hire locals but cite practical difficulties.

"When so many millions have evacuated, it's kind of hard to get people to return," said Pete Bell, the owner of Cotton, a Houston-based disaster recovery business that has more than 500 workers cleaning out hotels and restaurants.

On Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson decried the lack of local labor taking part in the cleanup and announced plans to remedy the situation by organizing a caravan of buses from Chicago next week to pick up displaced New Orleanians in St. Louis, Memphis and Jackson, Miss., and bring them back to the city. He suggested the workers could live on military bases and in hotels in and around New Orleans.

Labor investigators say that many of the workers in New Orleans are illegal immigrants who are being exploited and subjected to harsh living and working conditions.

An investigator with the Laborers Union, Rafael Duran, said that outside the New Orleans Arena, he had encountered Mexican teenagers perhaps 15 or 16 years old who had been removing excrement-fouled carpets.

While some cleanup workers in New Orleans are staying in hotels, Duran said the teenagers on the carpet-removal job told him they were sleeping in a field under a tent, and had gotten bitten by mosquitoes.

Duran said the laborers had been brought in by Rainbow International Restoration and Cleaning of Waco, Texas. A Rainbow franchise owner leading cleanup efforts in New Orleans, Vincent Beedle, said the workers had been brought in by a subcontractor that was supposed to obey all laws.

Outside a French Quarter restaurant, four Hispanic workers were taking a break from clearing 1,000 pounds of rotten shrimp from the freezer. The men, dripping with sweat, were wearing only jeans and T-shirts.

"You can just drive down the street and see people not dressed properly," Feher said. He said the workers cleaning the restaurants should have worn protective suits, rubber boots, rubber gloves and respirators.

The crew's New Jersey employer, Patrick Jones, said he provides protective gear for his workers as required by law, and "if I'm on the site they have to have it on." But he added: "I wasn't there."

Advocates said the lack of protective gear is leading to health problems. Juan Alvarez, director of the Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights in Houston, said he recently took five or six workers to the hospital after they complained of respiratory problems and diarrhea upon their return from New Orleans.

[jzt]

Big Easy Leaders Upset Over Cleanup Jobs

Oct 7, 1:54 PM (ET)

By ADAM NOSSITER

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - They clear rotten seafood from stinking restaurant freezers, wash excrement from the floors of the Superdome, rip out wads of soaked insulation. The work is hot, nasty and critical to the recovery of New Orleans. And yet, many of the workers are not actually from New Orleans.

Many of those engaged in the huge cleanup and reconstruction effort here - nobody has an exact count - are immigrants, both legal and illegal, from Mexico and Central America. Meanwhile, as many as 80,000 New Orleanians sit idle in shelters around the country.

They are out of work, homeless and destitute. That irks some civic and union leaders.

"I've got nothing against our Hispanic brothers, but we have a whole lot of skilled laborers in shelters that could be doing this work," said Oliver Thomas, president of the City Council. "We could put a whole lot of money in the pockets of New Orleanians by doing this reconstruction work."


Roman Feher, an organizer with the Laborers Union, said: "It's really a shame. We're trying to get people back on their feet. The last thing we need is contractors bringing people in from out-of-state."

Mayor Ray Nagin added his voice to the chorus this week, telling local business people: "How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?"

At the same time, interviews with some Katrina evacuees suggest New Orleanians are in no big hurry to return for these jobs. In fact, many Katrina evacuees have been landing jobs in communities around the country.

"Other guys out here in Houston and other areas of the state, we have better opportunities to make money here," New Orleans truck driver Wayne Cousin said at a refugee shelter in Houston.

The situation in New Orleans is part of a controversial pattern seen across the country: Immigrants are often willing to do the dirty jobs many Americans won't take.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represents much of New Orleans, said they are trying to pressure federal authorities to ensure that government cleanup contracts use Louisiana labor. But private companies are free to hire outsiders, and state officials say they are powerless to do more than urge local hiring.

"Our position is, we want these businesses to hire Louisiana people first," said Ed Pratt, a spokesman for the Louisiana Labor Department. "If they are hiring out-of-state Hispanics, we can't control that."

The contractors insist they would be happy to hire locals but cite practical difficulties.

"When so many millions have evacuated, it's kind of hard to get people to return," said Pete Bell, the owner of Cotton, a Houston-based disaster recovery business that has more than 500 workers cleaning out hotels and restaurants.

On Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson decried the lack of local labor taking part in the cleanup and announced plans to remedy the situation by organizing a caravan of buses from Chicago next week to pick up displaced New Orleanians in St. Louis, Memphis and Jackson, Miss., and bring them back to the city. He suggested the workers could live on military bases and in hotels in and around New Orleans.

Labor investigators say that many of the workers in New Orleans are illegal immigrants who are being exploited and subjected to harsh living and working conditions.

An investigator with the Laborers Union, Rafael Duran, said that outside the New Orleans Arena, he had encountered Mexican teenagers perhaps 15 or 16 years old who had been removing excrement-fouled carpets.

While some cleanup workers in New Orleans are staying in hotels, Duran said the teenagers on the carpet-removal job told him they were sleeping in a field under a tent, and had gotten bitten by mosquitoes.

Duran said the laborers had been brought in by Rainbow International Restoration and Cleaning of Waco, Texas. A Rainbow franchise owner leading cleanup efforts in New Orleans, Vincent Beedle, said the workers had been brought in by a subcontractor that was supposed to obey all laws.

Outside a French Quarter restaurant, four Hispanic workers were taking a break from clearing 1,000 pounds of rotten shrimp from the freezer. The men, dripping with sweat, were wearing only jeans and T-shirts.

"You can just drive down the street and see people not dressed properly," Feher said. He said the workers cleaning the restaurants should have worn protective suits, rubber boots, rubber gloves and respirators.

The crew's New Jersey employer, Patrick Jones, said he provides protective gear for his workers as required by law, and "if I'm on the site they have to have it on." But he added: "I wasn't there."

Advocates said the lack of protective gear is leading to health problems. Juan Alvarez, director of the Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights in Houston, said he recently took five or six workers to the hospital after they complained of respiratory problems and diarrhea upon their return from New Orleans.

It seems that the companies that are getting these contracts are able to use cheap, uneducated labor and get them to work in horrendous conditions for a little bit of money. I would be curious to know what kind of profit these companies are making from this cleanup work.

[Toad]

If the work is getting done, I wouldn't care if they were martians. I support enforcement of our immigration laws, but if they are already in the country then let them work. A working man has my respect. The native NOLA people are likely looking for government handouts because the work is too hard.

[dianepmny]

I'm curious to know how many of the locals that the city council president spoke about would actually be willing to do this kind of work.

As for Nagin, he remains at the top of my list of a-holes.

[jzt]

If the work is getting done, I wouldn't care if they were martians. I support enforcement of our immigration laws, but if they are already in the country then let them work. A working man has my respect. The native NOLA people are likely looking for government handouts because the work is too hard.


Yeah - but if they are getting them work in conditions that are dangerous to their health when they could be given the proper equipment, and then the company cleans up and is rolling in profits, I have a problem with that. And teenagers, no less.

[Toad]

Yeah - but if they are getting them work in conditions that are dangerous to their health when they could be given the proper equipment, and then the company cleans up and is rolling in profits, I have a problem with that. And teenagers, no less.

On the other hand, they are getting US dollars that they are happy to work for. In their country they would not have the opportunity to earn that much money. It's a win - win.

[jzt]

On the other hand, they are getting US dollars that they are happy to work for. In their country they would not have the opportunity to earn that much money. It's a win - win.

This still doesn't answer my question. Is our government paying these companies enough to cover a higher payroll for legal employees along with better safety equipment, etc... Put aside any moral issues as to using these teenagers and endangering their health because it is beneficial to us. Are these companies experiencing windfalls with our tax dollars by cheating and using illegal workers?