At Mardi Gras, Politics Fuels Revelers

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0221-01.htm

At Mardi Gras, Politics Fuels Revelers
by Michael Kunzelman

Mardi Gras spectators couldn't miss the anger and frustration Jeff Friedland and others feel about the slow pace of Hurricane Katrina recovery - it was the theme of their costumes in the second Carnival since the storm.

Friedland joined the celebrations Tuesday in a house painter's jumpsuit - wrapped in red tape.

Hurricane Katrina - Storm of The Century Aug. 29, 2005 - New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - Hurricane Katrina was an extraordinarily powerful and deadly storm. One of the five deadliest hurricanes to ever strike the United States, with 1,420 deaths, Katrina was also the costliest natural disaster, amassing over $75 billion in damages. Katrina is surpassed by the Galveston, Texas hurricane in 1900 that claimed at least 8,000 fatalities. Hurricane Katrina's storm surge was what made the storm so deadly. Levees separating Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans were breeched by the surge, which resulted in the flooding of about 80 percent of the city. Many survivors found themselves homeless, like Henry Rhodes, who sits in a New Orleans Police Department boat after being rescued in the 7th Ward on North Miro Street.

"Abysmal. Uncaring. Bordering on immoral," Friedland, 57, said of his more than 17 months of haggling with five different insurance companies and three mortgage companies over damage to his home and two rental properties he owns in New Orleans.

Tourists couldn't help but notice. Annie Clowes, 43, of Newburyport, Mass., found the political-themed costumes more amusing than the usual flesh-baring ones for which Mardi Gras is famed. She said it's still impossible to celebrate Fat Tuesday in New Orleans without thinking of Katrina.

"They didn't let it get them down. They still have Mardi Gras," she said.

A popular target for Katrina-themed revelers' sly jabs was Gov. Kathleen Blanco's grant program that offers eligible homeowners up to $150,000 in compensation to get back into their homes. Checks have been slow to come, say critics.

Allen Bender dressed as a housewife with a bathrobe and curlers in her hair and held a fake, oversized check for $150,000 signed by "Goobernor K. Blanco." He was flanked by two friends wearing jackets that said "LRA Prize Patrol," a reference to the storm-spawned Louisiana Recovery Authority.

"It's a hit this year," he said of his costume. "Last year we dressed as insurance adjusters from hell."

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[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. The Problem With New Orleans

They think that they're Baghdad.

How can we have time to fix the problems in New Orleans, when we're busy spending BILLIONS spreading democracy in Iraq. Which is more important?

We must continue to SUPPORT THE TROOPS, and if that means neglecting one of America's most beloved cities, and American citizens living there, then that's just too bad for them. It's not like the gooberment could have seen or planned for Katrina. So why should they be responsible for fixing the damage caused by it?

This sense of entitlement by U.S. citizens has got to stop! It's not like the government has time to help people just because they live in the U.S. We obviously need to be more concerned for the people living 1,000's of miles away in Iraq, and if we need to spend 100's of Billions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to do that, then there just isn't enough to help out New Orleans.

:sarcasm:

[xchrom]

2. i know selfish of them, huh?

and don't forget the innocent iraqis we kill and the payouts to THEIR families.

[tanyev]

4. Don't the people of NOLA know that we have to keep fighting them over there,

or else we might someday lose an American city?



:sarcasm:

and

:cry:

[KamaAina]

3. The classic, from last year's Krewe du Vieux