Insomnia--I Haz It

Louisiana 1976

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Thursday December 16, 2010 · 2:30 AM PST

2010/12/16 · 02:30

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping. In recent weeks I've been falling asleep only to awaken sometime in the wee hours of the morning and not been able to fall back asleep. So I've been getting up and reading or doing stuff like Diary Rescue online. After which I'd go back to bed and get some sleep.

Louisiana 1976

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Saturday October 09, 2010 · 5:03 PM PDT

2010/10/09 · 17:03

Yesterday I received in the mail my "Love-catcher" Community Quilt from Sara R. It is beautiful, with colorful fabrics in a distinctive ringed pattern Sara tells me is called "Cheyenne."

Unfortunately I don't have a camera--otherwise, I'd post a picture of this gorgeous quilt which I am keeping on my bed.

Louisiana 1976

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Monday January 18, 2010 · 4:54 PM PST

2010/01/18 · 16:54

Ever since the Haiti earthquake happened, it has invited quite a few comparisons to the disaster brought about in New Orleans by the federal flood. There are even those in the mainstream media who have asked if this quake is going to turn out to be Obama's "Katrina."

This is not surprising because there are some similarities in the situations--for example, the slowness in rescuing and getting aid to the survivors--which reminds casual observers of the way New Orleanians had to wait a week for food, water and rescue after her levees failed. Also, these catastrophes are manmade--Haiti's because of shoddily-constructed buildings, New Orleans' because of poorly-built and maintained levees--both of which had been disasters waiting to happen.

Louisiana 1976

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Tuesday January 12, 2010 · 5:58 PM PST

2010/01/12 · 17:58

by Greg Palast is a documentary that must be seen if one is to understand what's going on in New Orleans after Katrina and the Federal Flood. Palast's tough, gutsy journalism reminds me of what "60 Minutes" was, back in the day when that program had cojones. Palast, investigating what really happened in New Orleans on 8/29/2005, interviews then-LSU professor Ivor Van Heerden. Van Heerden says speaking to Palast could endanger his job due to the political connections of higher-ups--and we all know what happened to Van Heerden.

Palast also interviews flood victims discouraged in one way or another from returning home and the nefarious machinations behind attempts to discourage their return.

Here, then is "Big Easy to Big Empty."

Louisiana 1976

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Saturday January 09, 2010 · 4:14 PM PST

2010/01/09 · 16:14

Nearly four and a half years ago this nation experienced the two worst disasters of this past decade: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans' federal flood. Today many consider them old news, if not history, but they still are present in the lives of those who survived them.

Louisiana 1976

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Tuesday December 22, 2009 · 1:04 PM PST

2009/12/22 · 13:04

Bear with me. I'm going to discuss a couple of my pet peeves in extremely general terms because my intent is not to call anybody out, but to vent.

First, I recently saw something that really bothered me. Under a diary I was reading, someone, seeing it fit to play "Diary Police," had posted a remark to the effect of, "Why is this a diary?"

This was a diary not about healthcare, Afghanistan, or any other major news issue; rather, it was about entertainment. I have seen this sort of thing before under other non-political diaries, and find it more than a little rude. More below the fold.

Louisiana 1976

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Thursday December 03, 2009 · 4:33 PM PST

2009/12/03 · 16:33

And this is why: He must hate Louisiana and her people. Coburn, whose state obviously never has had a major disaster (judging from his behavior) introduced an amendment to the Senate healthcare bill stripping it of the $300 million Mary Landrieu had had added to help Louisiana make up for what would be a catastrophic Medicaid shortfall.

Talk about kicking somebody when they're down--Louisiana seriously needs this money.

Louisiana 1976

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Thursday October 15, 2009 · 7:55 AM PDT

2009/10/15 · 07:55

Today Obama will be making an extremely short stop in New Orleans. Or what my favorite NOLA blogger calls a "tinkle-stop tour." In New Orleans, he'll be visiting a charter school and participating in a town hall meeting in the Lower 9th Ward.

In contrast, his next stop will be San Francisco, where he'll be spending four times as much time--16 hours. This has caused Harry Shearer to say,

Total elapsed time in SF: sixteen hours. They must have experienced a hell of a federal disaster there. Four times worse, you figure?

Louisiana 1976

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Monday September 28, 2009 · 8:05 AM PDT

2009/09/28 · 08:05

Often when people including those in government and the mainstream media who should know better refer to the events of 8/29, it is merely as "Katrina" or "Hurricane Katrina".

There were actually two catastrophes that happened that day: the storm, which passed to the east of New Orleans, devastating with ferocious winds the Alabama, Mississippi and eastern Louisiana Gulf Regions, which was a NATURAL disaster, and the falling apart of New Orleans' federally-built and maintained levees, which was a MANMADE disaster due to poor engineering.

While the use of Katrina as shorthand to cover the two events is easy (I've even done that at times) it's misleading because of the implication that the flooding of New Orleans was a natural disaster. And this matters--more below the fold.

Louisiana 1976

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Wednesday September 23, 2009 · 12:12 PM PDT

2009/09/23 · 12:12

Evil has a name. It is Rep. Steve King (R-IA).

Here's why: Rep. King was recently interviewed by "The Hill."

THE HILL: What vote would you like to redo?

KING: I don’t really go back and re-live that sort of thing. Some of the big votes that I’ve thought about, some of the jury’s still out. And at this point, maybe I’d answer that question another way, probably the singular vote that stands out that went against the grain, and it turns out to be the best vote that I cast, was my "no" vote to the $51.5 billion to [Hurricane] Katrina. That probably was my best vote. But as far as doing something different again, I don’t know.

Louisiana 1976

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Monday August 31, 2009 · 9:26 AM PDT

2009/08/31 · 09:26

Following is a poem I wrote and first published last year to commemorate the third anniversary of Katrina and the federal flood. I'm reposting it this year to mark the fourth anniversary. It is in the voice of the mother of 8-year-old and 9-year-old boys who have a disabled grandmother. While fiction, it's based on things people actually endured during Katrina and flood and in the aftermath.

Louisiana 1976

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Saturday August 29, 2009 · 12:06 PM PDT

2009/08/29 · 12:06

I should be feeling better--after all, Obama did commemorate Katrina and the flood in his radio address this morning. To his credit he also brought up levees and coastal restoration. But only time will tell if these words will be backed up by action or be mere empty words.

I have been upset and feel as if I'm almost physically ill. I cannot help but flash back, see the scenes of rescues and of the afflicted at the Superdome and the Convention Center and think of how so many suffered during Katrina and the federal flood and are still suffering. And I can't help but wonder if Obama really cares about New Orleans. Because when I remember what happened during the flood and Katrina which turned the lives of so many upside down and think about the fact that Obama won't be going there (which he wasn't going to do anyway even if Ted Kennedy hadn't passed) I'm depressed.

And others are also turned off by the fact that Obama has paid so little attention to Louisiana and her problems and those of her neighbors in the Gulf Region--a wound which Obama's absence from Katrina observances has rubbed salt into. More below the fold...

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Insomnia--I Haz It

My "Love-Catcher" Quilt

New Orleans is not Haiti

"Big Easy to Big Empty"

Never forget, never forgive

Let's be kind.

Sen. Tom Coburn is an Evil Scumbucket

Obama's "Tinkle-Stop Tour" of NOLA

Katrina Shorthand vs. the Federal Flood: Why This Matters

Rep. Steve King: "Best Vote" Was Against Katrina Relief

Storm Story

I'm Depressed on This Anniversary...