Katrina Ain't Over

[Ron]

We have a customer in Vancouver that is going to a Trade Show in New Orleans
and we printed some Magazines to be distributed at that show.

In doing up the customs paperwork I noticed we were missing the IRS # of the consignee an important component if you want your goods to get across the border.

I called up a number in New Orleans and a man answered the phone.
My goodness, he sounded as if he had just woke up, talking so slowly, drawling out the words as he spoke.
Then I realized they all talk like that down south.

He must have wondered who this funnytalkingcanadianwasaswecantalkfastattimes!

He transfered me to a nice lady and we started chatting and the talk turned to our respective cities, weather, and Katrina.

She opened up and said that people can not imagine what happened there and how things are still lingering.
She said that convention business is returning, but they don't want to see what the effects of Katrina were.

Battles are still continuing over who will pay what, she said some have new homes?

She also said that some effects still linger as she suffers from stress & hives.

We talked a little about our Churches in Louisianna and the effect it has had on numerous people (steadfast).

She said it could be worse, but she often wonders when it will get better?

What say you?

Have we forgotten Katrina and those affected by it?

Are we so driven (culture wise) to respond only at the impulse of emotion?

She mentioned that most of relief and help came from ordinary citizens.

What do you think?

BTW Steadfast, I haven't forgotten about you or your Church and pray God's abundent blessings be you and yours both spritual and otherwise.

I was in New Orleans not too long ago. Sad, sad indeed.

The blame lies squarely on the gross incompetence of City Officials primarily and secondarily the corruption of the State government along with their own incompetence. Here is a dysfunctional city if there ever was one. They hardly know their left hand from their right hand. Ignorance is their god, incompetence is their hero. Yet, they are very efficent in one thing to be sure...that is the blame game. Everyone else is at fault. The city government can't see themselves at all. It is truly sad.

The city has been on the downward skid for many years. It just took a crisis such as Katrina to reveal it.

As a boy, I lived there for several years. It was such a nice, clean place to live with a very high educational standard. Their public school produced some of the highest scholastical standards in the USA, as I recall. There is Tulane University, one of the finest schools in the nation at that time. Also Loyola and others too.

The greatest help that they are getting now is that of charity groups that come in to help. There are many churches of many denominations that are in there building and helping the people who do not know how to help themselves, perfectly willing to let others do it for them.

Mississippi is different. They have things going in the right direction and in a rapid pace as well. There are many church organizations down there too, but the residents are working right along side of them. Things are really popping down there. South Mississippi is a true success story.

[Tina]

No, I haven't forgotten. I have family (cousins) that lost their homes and everything except the clothes on their backs-- and barely escaped with their lives.

On another forum that I am on, we "adopt" families. A few of those families on the adoption list are Katrina victims. (Side note: One of those families is still living with a Blue "FEMA" tarp roof on their home because of insurance refusing to pay, and raising their deductible so high that it was going to cost them well over the price of the new roof just to meet that deductible for the wind & water damage.) The program isn't just for Katrina victims, it's for others who have been facing different types of hardships. It's not so much the financial amount of what we do for these families, but the thought behind it. We simply make Christmas a little more special. (Gifts for the children, phone cards or maybe a GC for a meal out for the parents) I'd like to be able to extend that to cover Birthdays and other holidays as well, but haven't been able to get that part going yet. It's not in the amount of help we can send-- just the thought behind the idea, and that those who adopt families care enough about someone they have never met to do so. There are times when we see a need, that members of that forum pool together and shower someone with whatever it is to meet the immediate need. Whether it be a little gas money, money for medicine, or a box of groceries. I wish we could do more than we do.

Sorry about rambling in your thread.

No, I haven't forgotten.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Brother Strange

I was in New Orleans not too long ago. Sad, sad indeed.

The blame lies squarely on the gross incompetence of City Officials primarily and secondarily the corruption of the State government along with their own incompetence. Here is a dysfunctional city if there ever was one. They hardly know their left hand from their right hand. Ignorance is their god, incompetence is their hero. Yet, they are very efficent in one thing to be sure...that is the blame game. Everyone else is at fault. The city government can't see themselves at all. It is truly sad.

The city has been on the downward skid for many years. It just took a crisis such as Katrina to reveal it.

As a boy, I lived there for several years. It was such a nice, clean place to live with a very high educational standard. Their public school produced some of the highest scholastical standards in the USA, as I recall. There is Tulane University, one of the finest schools in the nation at that time. Also Loyola and others too.

The greatest help that they are getting now is that of charity groups that come in to help. There are many churches of many denominations that are in there building and helping the people who do not know how to help themselves, perfectly willing to let others do it for them.

Mississippi is different. They have things going in the right direction and in a rapid pace as well. There are many church organizations down there too, but the residents are working right along side of them. Things are really popping down there. South Mississippi is a true success story.

What is the remedy?

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Tina

No, I haven't forgotten. I have family (cousins) that lost their homes and everything except the clothes on their backs-- and barely escaped with their lives.

On another forum that I am on, we "adopt" families. A few of those families on the adoption list are Katrina victims. (Side note: One of those families is still living with a Blue "FEMA" tarp roof on their home because of insurance refusing to pay, and raising their deductible so high that it was going to cost them well over the price of the new roof just to meet that deductible for the wind & water damage.) The program isn't just for Katrina victims, it's for others who have been facing different types of hardships. It's not so much the financial amount of what we do for these families, but the thought behind it. We simply make Christmas a little more special. (Gifts for the children, phone cards or maybe a GC for a meal out for the parents) I'd like to be able to extend that to cover Birthdays and other holidays as well, but haven't been able to get that part going yet. It's not in the amount of help we can send-- just the thought behind the idea, and that those who adopt families care enough about someone they have never met to do so. There are times when we see a need, that members of that forum pool together and shower someone with whatever it is to meet the immediate need. Whether it be a little gas money, money for medicine, or a box of groceries. I wish we could do more than we do.

Sorry about rambling in your thread.

No, I haven't forgotten.

Tina, you aren't rambling at all.
What you guys are doing is great.

I wonder if it would fly here?

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

Ron, half the city was living on Gubbermint handout like a Eastern European Entitlement of 25 years ago. The other half were properous and so those in Bubbamint now have set to punish them, or they have found out that there is so much red tape that we never expected. I read this last week of a couple who lost their house in a tax sale for $1.68 bill. Katrina damaged their home, but without clear title, no mortgage company will allow them the money to rebuild.

Some are like Tina described, trapped, but many are needing to get jobs and move on. Whoops, so much for the PC crowd.....

Originally Posted by Ron

What is the remedy?

A simple question but far from a simplistic answer, to be sure.

The moral fiber has corrupted, broken down and almost nonexistent.

I guess the first thing that needs to be done is Fathers need to go back home to their orphaned children and single mothers. But, that can't happen because Father would have to go back to a dozen homes. There would be a dozen different fathers in each home. It is really screwed up.

The standard of education should be elevated out of the gutter level to at least be able to do simple arithmetic and have basic reading and writing skills when they leave High School.

Also, strong spiritual guidance in the community is needed above all.

But then, how to implement all of this would be a monumental task since there is no community leadership available to lead the people out of their dark dispair and hopelessness. Far too many of them sit around waiting for their government check to arrive each month.

Maybe part of the answer would be to cut off all government checks and allow the people to become self-sufficient. But, that can't happen. What is left of the city would be burned to the ground in rioting.

To be honest, I really don't know what the answer would be short of turning back to God in a total wholesale sell out. One thing for sure, the government is complicit in their destruction with so many welfare programs. But, I suppose that makes for more democrats. OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

[Tina]

Originally Posted by Ron

Tina, you aren't rambling at all.
What you guys are doing is great.

I wonder if it would fly here?

It might. We have a lot of people here with big hearts. Whether or not it would be allowed to fly here would be up to the owners though. I haven't asked about it............yet.

[Blubayou]

Bro. Strange is pretty much on target. I have family that still live in New Orleans. Fortunately their homes remained intact, but it is and has been like living in a war zone much of the time. It is very frustrating to see what is not happening in the city and state.

[RevDWW]

If anything we need to learn the lesson that government bureaucracy does not work well, before we start thinking about a government run socialized medicine program.