Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Hand-outs
JJ has hinted several times at the notion that help to rebuild louisiana amounted to hand-outs. This report establishes that the flood was the direct result of the ineptitude of the corps and that programs and $ to rebuild are nothing more than compensation from the federal govt to make good on its own fuck-ups.
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I don't remember saying exactly that, Pepe. I do think that Lousiana is in the shape it's in because of decades of political (and other) corruption. In other words, decades of handouts have caused the current clusterfuck that the feds will now be "making good on their fuck-up" of having handed out money over the years to do-nothings and crooks.
Sad. The place was gainifully employ (as Jones would say) a while back.
To be a little Hegelian, everybody from bottom-up to top-down should share in the blame. Louisiana politicos are elected to represent the people. If engineers were building levees at improper heights, then the checks and balances should've (in an ideal state) been detected by those fuck-ups.
JJ's right, too, Pepe: Louisiana has endured decades -- even centuries -- of political corruption well-beyond the normal levels.
I noticed similar levels of corruption when in St. Croix and on St. Thomas, where (to give one example) cops with guns and badges literally believed they were above the law. I literally felt helpless as a journalist. I remember one particular power-hungry and undertrained cop who shot a civilian. The cop did this because he was enraged that someone defied his authority (as I remember, it originated with a minor traffic infraction). The cops on St. Thomas were too busy chugging beer on their lunch break to shoot the populace they were supposed to be protecting. I have strong suspicion that New Orleans gov't operates much the same as the Carrib does.
Somewhat similar, not but two or three years ago the levee in Grand Forks, ND, was being constructed, and it was revealed that it wasn't to specs either: too low. So the engineering outfit was told, simply, to fix the problem. There was no gnashing at eachother's throat, in-fighting, or anything. Just get to work and make it right, damnit.
I'd like to apply to be a cop in St Croix! Sounds like fun. Any Bad Lieutenant-like scenes there?
As far as the Grand Forks thing goes, there must be some community feeling of social contract up there that's kinda rare. I figure the same thing existed in Scandinavia where socialism seemed to work (before half of Pakistan figured that was a sweet deal for them). If there are no crooks, then there's no problem in giving the government all your money. They'll put it to good use in the community and we all want a good community, don't we? We can share everything.
On the other hand, no top composers, architects, novelists or mathematicians or physicists or anything like that...Maybe a little cut-throat barbarity and falling levies are good things somehow in the blood and iron scheme of things.
There's a different socio setting in Grand Forks. It's multilayered, but yes, during the 1997 flood, Univeristy of North Dakota students abandoned their classes, headed for the levee and started sandbagging. It's gritty, tough work, typically leaving one's hands cold, the knuckles bleeding a bit here and there. Ah, the strenuous life. Hammer and anvil.
I don't know if it's hold-over or remnant ethos from Scandinavia, or Germany. I like to think of it more as North Dakotan these days.
Note: Looks like UND is looking for some research scientists and engineers. Starting pay between $45,000-to-$100,000, and you get to work with gas.
JJ, check your university and yahoo e-mail accounts. I'm sending you some links.
mft
...okay. Links have been sent, JJ. Enjoy.
Thanks bud!
You bet.
Also JJ: just north of UND's campus is Happy Harry's Liquor, a building about 3-times the size of the North Dakota Center for the Arts.
...we all want a good community, don't we? We can share everything.
Yeah, now start sending me books from your personal library. Hahahaha!!!
We still gotta figure out how we're gonna divi up AA's.
Is he dead yet?
I don't think so. Either that or someone has been posting under his name.
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