Should rebuilding New Orleans even be considered???

This is strictly my opinion, but after seeing and reading about the massive damage that Katrina has done, and the ill-advised location of New Orleans itself, the town should not be rebuilt, and the areas (such as most of the French Quarter) that have minimal damage, should be kept as strictly a tourist, stop, the rest of the town should be filled in, and have a minimal level above the sea level for any new structures to be built. It will hurt New Orleans residents feelings, but this is without a doubt going to dwarf Hurricane Andrew as the most expensive natural disater in American history, and only through an attitude of logical thought, not sentimental, will the people of New Orleans get through this terrible ordeal. Just my opinion. Unleash the hounds!

Dude, New Orleans is a massively important port city and an important hub for oil extraction, refinement, and distribution, among many other key functions. Just watch what happens to the US economy over the next few months with this city's outputs nullified. It's not just about getting drunk on Bourbon Street and feeling tits on Mardi Gras. Cities, unlike ill-advised resort communities, don't just spring up where they are for no reason.

Maybe changing the system of levees so the Mississsippi is allowed to silt the gulf and rebuild natural defenses is a more reasonable idea?

Originally posted by Doctor Doom:
It's not just about getting drunk on Bourbon Street and feeling tits on Mardi Gras.

GASP!! really????

Originally posted by sonickteam4:

Originally posted by Doctor Doom:
It's not just about getting drunk on Bourbon Street and feeling tits on Mardi Gras.

GASP!! really????

They should drop a fuel air bomb on it, with all the looters still there. Now the filth is shooting at helicopters. When are they going to start shooting the looters already, this is beyond out of hand. Is anyone in charge or control?

its too early to really tell, but by the sounds of it, the city might never be back. some rumors going around are that it might be 6 months to a year before people move back. people have to find new places to live, work, ect. in the meantime, businesses have to find new offices. don't doubt it may come back, but it doesn't look good

Like protesters, all looters should be shot dead on sight. Show me where to sign up, I have a buddy at work that'll sign up also.

You're a Reptilian, aren't you, Rob_Gee? :roll:

It doesn't matter to me, Republican….Democrat…whoever's in, I support. The guy is gonna get trashed by boardies whether he's a Republican, Democrat, Independant, King, Queen, whatever…

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Show me where to sign up

Here you go

I hear they have a flight to New Orleans with a quick 6 month layover in Baghdad.

I think the number of Army reservists and National Guard that are currently knee deep in Iraqi sand is slowing the response to clean-up and keeping the peace. I'm sure most of those people stuck in Iraq would trade their current situation for a chance to be waist deep in water and be home with their families.

Yeah, and most of us would rather be lying on a tropical beach getting a tan instead of at work…What's your point?

my thoughts:

on the looting and shooting:
the people stuck in new orleans are largely (but not all, of course) impoverished african-americans who have lived through generations of poverty and many (but not all, of course) have a deep distrust of police and state authority … new orleans is already one of the most violent cities in the country, so couple this with days of anarchy and lack of supplies, and that area will just turn into a war zone, and we're starting to see that right now with the shooting of helicopters and national guardsmen … a rep from the fairfax search and rescue team said he was deployed for three weeks after the tsunami and didn't see any civil unrest, but this is a much smaller scale and this is already turning into lord of the flies … easy access to guns are of course an issue, but it just says more about the mindset of these people more than anything else

on living in unsustainable areas:
i grew up on the west coast of florida, and i still have no sympathy for people who build where mother nature tells you you shouldn't build, this includes:

barrier reefs
beaches
deep in forests
in floodplains

the real issue here is that ALL OF US pay for these peoples' arrogance … in florida, taxpayers pay hundreds of millions to keep barrier reefs and beaches exactly how they "should be" when in reality nature should and constantly does reshape the land in these areas … if you spend $10million for a house on a beach, you should realize that that land could and probably will simply wash away eventually … instead all of us pay millions to keep nature at bay and "protect" our beaches and barrier reefs … the same thing is happening with the "beach replenishment" at rehoboth/dewey this past spring/summer

you can extrapolate this example to the others i listed … the denver area has seen a huge population explosion in the last half century or so, and people move out into forests where forest fires routinely ravage the land … now that a few people live out there, we all have to spend millions to battle the fire and "save" their homes

i'm not saying that people shouldn't build in new orleans, but you can see where i'm getting at

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
the people stuck in new orleans are largely (but not all, of course) impoverished african-americans who have lived through generations of poverty and many (but not all, of course) have a deep distrust of police and state authority …

a good piece from NYT's David Brooks

Thank god none of you were deicision makers in my neck of the woods in 1906.

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Yeah, and most of us would rather be lying on a tropical beach getting a tan instead of at work…What's your point?

My point, as an Army veteran, is that it is frustrating being deployed thousands of miles from home when there is an emergency in your own back yard that you would much rather be dealing with.

I am not making any political statements here about whether or not the war in Iraq is right or wrong. I'm simly saying that the clean-up and peace keeping duties typically handled by the National Guard in times like this might be going better if they weren't already stretched thin.

Make sense?

Originally posted by vansmack:
Thank god none of you were deicision makers in my neck of the woods in 1906.

come on, i'd be content. :)

There is a blurb from a guardsmen on CNN's website who was in Iraq and is now at the Supperdome and says he wishes he was on tour in Baghdad instead..

regardless it's a horrid situation.

I will only say one thing:

Bourbon blues on the street loose and complete
Under skies all smoky blue-green
I can Forksake the dixie dead shake
So we dance the sidewalk clean
My memory is muddy what's this river I'm in
New Orleans is sinking and I don't want to swim

"New Orleans is sinking" - Tragically Hip.

"new orleans is a dead museum."

excerpt from "naked lunch" by william s. burroughs.

Originally posted by Shadrach:
My point, as an Army veteran, is that it is frustrating being deployed thousands of miles from home when there is an emergency in your own back yard that you would much rather be dealing with.

I am not making any political statements here about whether or not the war in Iraq is right or wrong. I'm simly saying that the clean-up and peace keeping duties typically handled by the National Guard in times like this might be going better if they weren't already stretched thin.

Make sense?

It sounds to me like New Orleans could be the perfect, gift exit-strategy that the administration has hoped for…

Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
on the looting and shooting:

its getting really ugly right now … vehicles evacuating critical patients from one of the major hospitals took sniper fire and they can't continue to evacuate the hospital