Gentilly Girl- a part of the 99%

July 5, 2007

Why Must We Fight This Nightmare Every Day?

New Orleans and SE Louisiana were shattered by the hands of man and the needs of a Nation. That’s what happened on 8/29. (the shorthand is for those who can only remember tiny bits of data)

Once again, I’m going to give you my standard truth speech about the situation down here in the wetlands. I’m tired of doing this, but until we have our reparations and can rebuild, I guess this little Trans witch will keep doing her song and dance running.

First off, we, and our lands were sold and bought by powers, and we didn’t get a say in that. (Sorta like when the slave ship came to harbor and the folks were sold off to the highest bidder.) We had our own place back then… we were our own. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much say in the matter as the buyer and seller had tons of money and guns and we had fishing nets.

We just continued to live our lives and be ourselves. This is our world… screw anything else, this is where we lived, worked and died. (my ancestors are buried here, as will I when the time comes)

In the early 20th Century gas and oil was discovered in our part of the world, and the rapists came into the picture. Our wetlands, our protection and the source of much of the food for this country was carved up by 20,000 miles of canals so that the companies (read- shareholders) could cheap out their operations. The Nation grew upon those actions and profited greatly.

What did my people get from this? A few jobs and destruction of OUR lands.

The river was leveed in order to provide the country with the goods it needed in order to grow and thrive, and all we got for all that effort was a few extra jobs and no consideration for the Sword of Damocles that was hanging over our heads. (Oh yes… putting the Mississippi into levees stopped the natural process of land-building that the river had been performing for millions of years, all the way from Cairo, IL to our current delta.) Now our wetlands are dying because the river cannot replenish them.
What did the future of a bunch of French, Creole and Black lives mean when it came to the fortunes of the NATION? Shit! most of us didn’t even qualify as being white! (I’m one of them)  Only white people mattered until the mid-Sixties, and therefore we were not to be considered in the transaction.

So our part of this supposed nation of the Free, even though bought and sold by fuckers that never were a part of this culture, became nothing but fodder for the greed and need of the U.S. and it’s hubris. Our ancestors and our land created the prosperity of 2/3s of the country. Our people created great literature, cuisine and music that the Nation could never have conceived. We became the repository of the Old Worlds here in North America, an anachronism and a treasure.
Without our area America would never have come out of the Great Depression, never could have been the liberator in WW II, and never could have placed Humans on the Moon. This Nation would never have achieved the status it has today without using US. WE ARE the major power for this country, and even today, we are the basis of much of what the U.S. is and can be.
We gave willingly as dutiful citizens, but then there came a storm in August, 2005. Our protections against such storms, promised by the same Nation that was destroying our lands, freakin’ damned FAILED, AND MANY OF US DIED OR BECAME HOMELESS. Our world, our little part of it, almost died. Many voices  called for our death, but we would not hear them. We are rebuilding OUR land.
Our place almost died. Can you understand that statement? Look around what you perceive as your community being totally gone. Can you stomach that? That your friends, neighbors, shops and eateries are wiped from the face of the Earth? To know that the faces you have known for years are no longer next door or around the corner? To realize that the children (who you hated because of their pranks and noise), are no longer in the place their parents lived in? That they aren’t there to remind you of the continuity of culture? That you are no longer a part of the Dance of Life?
Can you imagine that in the place where you live?

Can you?

I mean really, can you understand all of the folks missing? That you are no longer a part of the thread of Life and history. That you don’t fucking count for shit? ANSWER ME!
If you can respond with a yes to the above question, then you understand where we, the 200,000 who returned to fix this city are coming from. If your answer is no, or who cares, may thou reside in the greatest depths of Hades.

In all of the 200+ years you in the U.S. have “owned” us, we have never begged. We took care of things and kept going. We provided what was needed. (Many of my ancestors lie on the bottom of the oceans because they answered America’s call.)

We here in SE Louisiana have more than given our pound of flesh for this Nation, and it’s time to get a little bit of it back in order to rebuild our homeland. We have more than earned it. Otherwise… you have no idea of the Hell you will have to live in if we are gone from the scene or if we decide to leave your little confederation of states.

Think about it.

I’m Morwen Madrigal, and I must live to be 80 in order to pay the debt of repairing my home that was damaged for the Nation. I gave almost 10 years to this country in service, and am again saddled for another 30 years.

What have you given to America?

Another Idiot Trashes Our Home…

From Hartford comes another freakin’ “know it all” editorial.

Y’all just know that I made my thoughts known at the paper’s site.

June 30, 2007

The GAO on the Impact of Katrina

Filed under: Federal Flood,Katrina,Levees,New Orleans — Tags: , , , — Morwen Madrigal @ 3:41 pm

Curtsey to Scout at First Draft.

22 Months…

And we are still not “home”.

22 months and the Corps of Engineers still can’t create a proper drainage system.

There is no silver lining in this dark cloud.

Sinn Fein.

32% of New Orleanians are still NOT HOME 22 months after the Federal Flood of our city.

It’s time to secede and prove Jefferson’s fears about what New Orleans means to the U.S..

June 20, 2007

Flood Risk Assessment Maps

We finally have the ACOE’s Flood Risk maps!

I’m glad we raised the house to 9+ feet… the map for our neighborhood shows an 8+ flood in a 1 in 500 chance event.

Whew!

June 8, 2007

The ACOE Is Killing Us

Fix the Pumps is today featuring the new internal ACOE report on the “work” the Corps have been doing to get flood protections around the city up to snuff.

Matt entitled his post: “Bombshell”. My only response to this report is “Oh Poop on a stick”.

All of this “repairing” of our mis-designed and improperly built levee systems and the new pumps should be seen as a betrayal to the folks of New Orleans and the American taxpayers. It is CRIMINAL ACT!!!

Reparations for all of New Orleans and our area NOW!!!

May 6, 2007

National Geographic on Levees

Just found this link for a good primer on what we here in SE Louisiana are facing when it comes to erosion and levees.

May 1, 2007

18 Missing Inches in New Orleans

Here’s a piece from Greg Palast concerning the release of the Trade Paperback version of “Armed Madhouse: From Baghdad to New Orleans.

As always I have snippets, and this one is a reminder of the truths of the Federal Flood and our demand for REPARATIONS:

“The White House had good reason, or at least political and financial reasons, to keep mum. A hurricane is an act of God, but catastrophic levee failure is an act of the Administration. Once the federal levees go, evacuation, rescue and those frightening words – responsibility and compensation – become Washington’s. Van Heerden knew that “not an act of God, but catastrophic failure of the levee system” would mean that, at least, “these people must be compensated.”

Not every flood victim in America gets the Katrina treatment. In 1992, storms wiped out 190 houses on the beach at West Hampton Dunes, home to film stars and celebrity speculators. The federal government paid to completely rebuild the houses, which, hauled in four million cubic feet of sand to restore the tony beaches, and guaranteed the home’s safety into the coming decades – after which the “victim’s” homes rose in value to an average $2 million each.”

Reparations to the victims of the Federal Flood!

April 5, 2007

Now It’s Pipe Poop and Rust…

From “Fix the Pumps” comes the newest information on how well the ACOE is looking after the tax dollars they are using toget NOLA’s protections up again since the failure of the Federal levee system.

A snippet:

“What is obvious, but somehow has escaped everyone’s notice until now, is that the pipes are unpainted, and have been since they were installed almost a year ago. Naturally, they’re rusting.”

We need lots of Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs, a bunch of batteries, and rubber bands. We locals could build a better system for drainage and protection compared to the Corps’ juvenile attempts.

April 2, 2007

From Matt at Fix the Pumps: “Oh. My. God.”

Here are two pieces from Fix the Pumps: Here and here.

In the first piece, you will see some pics that I will tell you absolutely should not be happening. The second piece describes the model to be used for calculating the viability of a hydraulic system. In both scenarios we are screwed if this is what the ACoE intends to use for keeping us dry.

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