My Trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast

S.S. Camile, still there.

About a week ago, I went over the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I wanted to visit some of my relatives who spent Katrina up a tree watching a home that had been in their family for generations and make it through Camile disintegrate under the fury of the waves.

I, like many New Orleanians, spent many vacations on the Coast when I was growing up. I was especially eager to visit because I had seen the Mississippi Gulf Coast less than 2 weeks before Katrina hit. I was doing a survey for an engineering firm I worked at over the summer before my senior year. We were doing some work for the port of Gulfport and I remember thinking, "Gee, all those empty lots from Camile have finally been filled in. It looks so good."

Well, about two weeks later Katrina hit and you know the rest.


Steps, all that remain of many homes.

Another reason I wanted to go to the Coast was to see how true (or should I say, how false) the, "well, Mississippi is recovered, why is New Orleans still asking for money" thought process is.

I toured the ENTIRE coast over the course of a day. From Waveland to Ocean Springs and everything in between. We had to navigate around the missing bridges in Bay St. Louis and Biloxi. Spent a lot of the afternoon in Ocean Springs, too.

I brought my good ole Canon AE-1, one of the greatest cameras ever made. It was my grandfather's and it's still going strong. Load it up with black and white film and you'll be amazed at the photos it produces.

I was amazed at the devastation. I sort of assumed that Bay St. Louis and Waveland took the brunt of Katrina and the areas closer to Alabama were largely spared. Boy, was I wrong. It's also hard to see exactly how much was lost, unless you knew what it looked like before Katrina.

Here are some of my observations

Differences between Gulf Coast and NOLA:
* No abandonments- In New Orleans, some people just evacuated and never returned. That just hasn't happened over there.
* Excellent government (but has remarkably little bearing on the recovery). Their politicians aren't stuffing money into freezers. Not that it's helped that much. A lot of those places have EXCELLENT schools. In Ocean Springs, all the schools are "5 out of 5" (MS rating system).
* Crime. They've had some problems in their FEMA trailer parks, but they got a handle on things early before crime ever got a toehold. The same can't be said of the Big Bloody.
* Better connection between recovered zones/struggling zones. In New Orleans, there's the "Isle of Denial" and there's the "Magical Misery Land." There's a lot less interaction than there should be. In Mississippi, there's a much better connection.
* Small biz's doing slightly better in NOLA. In Louisiana, there are more tourists, so small businesses at least have enough to break even. In MS, they're still struggling (except for the big casinos).
* FEMA flood plain. FEMA didn't wuss out over there. The BFE (Base Flood Elevations) are extremely high (as they should be). We're talking about 15-20' above grade. Some places even higher. What is getting rebuilt is getting built high.

Similarities:
* Ancestral homes, don't have $ to rebuild. So many of the homes were inherited from one generation to another.
* Inflated construction costs.
* Stuck (no $). Their version of the Road Home is better, but still not great. Also, their is the simple fact that, especially factoring in inflated construction costs and high BFE's, it simply isn't enough money to rebuild.
* Islands of recovery, islands of despair.
* Big business recovers well. In Louisiana, the oil companies got their infrastructure repaired in short order, despite massive damage.
* The "New Normal."
* Dilapidated, abandoned buildings.
* They have a Lower 9, Claiborne Ave, Lakeview (& Magazine Street). Their Lower 9 is a neighborhood of Vietnamese and Polish fishermen just Northeast of the Port of Gulfport. The homes were handed down from generation to generation. Many were little more than shacks, but they were all owned. The main business road in Gulfport looks like Claiborne Ave. (lots of shuttered and abandoned businesses). They have a Lakeview (bedroom community of brick buildings that are still intact, but deserted). Main Street in Ocean Springs, which is way up on a hill, is filled with boutique stores, art galleries, bars, and great restaurants. Reminds me of Magazine Street.
* Still have lots of legal battles (but different targets). We're suing the Corps. They're suing their insurance companies. Insurance over there was far worse than in Louisiana, at least in my opinion. State Farm was, under the circumstances, fair with us. My relatives also had State Farm and they were treated like criminals. I was shocked at that they were describing the same company.
* Good food. I had a late lunch/early dinner at the Beau Rivage. Excellent! I stuffed myself. I'd recommend to anyone. A lot of the chefs had New Orleans roots. You could tell by the very flavorful (but not overly hot) food.


The beach, just as beautiful as ever.

I really enjoyed my trip. I learned a lot, I ate great food, and I got to see my relatives. If things get to hairy in New Orleans, I'd definitely think of moving to Ocean Springs. It's a nice little town.

If someone tells you why can't Louisiana be like Mississippi, you tell them that we pretty much are like Mississippi.

I've got a bunch more photos that I want to post. Blogger's software is acting up on me and it's taking a hell of a long time to upload these high quality photos. I still need to get another roll finished off. That roll has the best photos. I'll get them up eventually.

My Politics

For a while, I avoided politics on my blog. Recently, I've decided to wade in. I want to be very clear where I stand. Sites like The Dead Pelican are most useful when you know where the author stands. Full disclosure of crucial details, like Jeff Crouere's (of Bayou Buzz) unsuccessful campaign against Mitch Landrieu and Silas Lee's work for the Nagin administration, should be out there.

I'm a registered Independent. I lean to the right on some things, while others I'm on the left. I balance out in the middle. I'm sure about this because all of my liberal friends think I'm a buddies with Pat Robertson and all of my conservative friends think I'm an America-hatin' commie in league with Hugo Chavez. When you're a moderate, it's really scary A: how wide the idealogical gap is and B: how neither side really comprehends A.

I have never worked for any politician.

I have attended exactly 1 political rally: Wesley Clark's rally at the Lakefront Airport.

I have donated money to only one politician: $50 to Rob Couhig's mayoral campaign. I 'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm going to be honest. I was suckered in by the Times-Picayune profile of him, his willingness to take tough stands that he knew would alienate some voters, and his zeal in kicking Nagin in the teeth during the debates. Damn do I wish I had that 50 bucks back.

UPDATE- In an effort to be as open as possible and not in any way get into a situation like Bill O'Reilly. It's not as though I think I'm going to get in trouble. I'm just following the Nakedness principle.

Here's my voter registration card: (some parts obscured for my privacy)



Note the registration date and the party affiliation.

PS- I don't know what some of the numbers mean. If there's something I should censor, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

In case you need help vomitting...

The "Rove Rap":
(WARNING: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A RECEPTACLE TO CATCH VOMIT WHEN YOU WATCH THIS FILM)

4 minutes in, look at the surprise interviewee:

Ducky Riess

Remembering Katrina's Lives Lost:

John Karlem "Ducky" Riess

A close friend and a mentor.

I just found this article (p. 6) I wrote a while ago. I didn't know whether or not it ever got published until recently. Turns out it did.

The mother of all bitches: City Hall

"Mayor wants Vieux Carre Commission (VCC) President canned for comments.

Well, this has gotten a lot of news lately. Being a Quarterite, I figure I should weigh in.

First off, I don't really care for the VCC. I'm going to talk about a "bitch" in the VCC.

Katrina knocked over a brick wall at the back of our property. It divided 2 lots. The other property burned during Katrina and was left abandoned for a few months. One of the residents had a son in the construction biz and rebuilt the wall in short order (otherwise, the wall wouldn't have been rebuilt in months). The owners are a nice doctor and his bitch of a wife. She insisted we tear down our wall, "because it wasn't up to VCC standards." VCC standards are notorious for being insanely difficult to comply with. My favorite story was a guy who repainted his home. White paint was peeling all over the place. Once he was finished, the VCC told him they didn't like the shade of white, so he had to spend $20,000 to get it repainted. Anyway, 2 walls later and on the anniversary of Katrina (plus or minus a week, I can't remember exactly), we finally got a wall in place. Oh yeah, and this whole time, they were rebuilding their carriage house using cinder blocks. Would have loved to sent some of photos in to her friends on the VCC. Nobody wanted to piss them off more than we already had, so I've just got them stored on my hard drive.

Anyway, as problematic as the VCC are, they're the lesser of two evils. The other alternative would be to let developers take over and let it turn into this:

Disney's version of the Quarter. Except with developers, it would be 30 story condo's in the faux-Louisiana Vernacular style. The VCC is a necessary evil.

Second comment I have is, though I've never met Ms. White, the prevailing opinion seems to be she's an insufferable human being who had it coming. Our politicians get off way too easy, so if a few people slip their toe over the line, I'm not going to mind.

Thirdly, Nagin wants to hold someone accountable for a slip of the tongue? HOLY SHIT! STOP THE PRESSES! Well, if you want someone canned, then let's start with your worthless hide. I've heard (and I'm not 100% on this, so if I'm wrong, I'll retract it) that Dr. Lupin rode out the storm in the city. He even went in and provided whatever medical care he could to the poor in the Superdome and Convention Center. That's right, he was helping people while Nagin was sprawled on the floor of the Hyatt in a fetal position sucking on one thumb with his other thumb firmly implanted up his ass.

Fourth, people need to go beyond what Nagin says. People need to look into what he's trying to do. He wants Lupin replaced with a crony to line his pockets. This may come as a surprise to some, but there's a ton of abandoned property in the Quarter. Very few people are willing to go to the trouble of restoring it because of the VCC's micromanagement. I'm sure Nagin and his cronies have some sort of scheme to get some land, install a lackey who watches their back while they make a fortune off some of the most valuable land in the city. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hotel or something really gaudy (like a 30 story monument to Hizzoner's greatness) in the works. FOLLOW THE MONEY!

Fifth, hey, there are some really tiny apartments in the Quarter. When I first graduated, I had a place that was $600 a month with utilities. Great deal, right? Well, it was a converted slave quarter and was one (very small) room. It had a shower stall that was so narrow, I could only stand one way, otherwise my shoulders would get stuck. If they were to have one ginormous bin for a whole complex, that might work.

Some people are shocked that this has become a big deal. I'm not. And now you know why.

UPDATE- Read this article about the special tax district for the Quarter. Seems the Quarterites were reluctant to pay up, so they wanted to control the money... Nagin didn't like that.

Take Heart

An absolute must read for any blogger/digital citizen.

Sometimes the news, both locally and nationally, can drive one to Zoloft. Read the above article. It will lift your spirits and give you hope. A storm of revolution is brewing. All those crooked politicos are about to bend over to the power of Time's person of the year (You).

NOPD

More from WDSU. "NOPD losing manpower faster than it can be replaced." Gee, I wonder how this is going to mesh with the plan to have the LANG 'step down as we step up.' Is that a hole in Hizzoner's logic? Of course.

Former NOPD Brass takes on the NOPD Brass in Gambit

A great piece on the NOPD during Katrina that was published in the New Yorker. Very detailed and informative. It will tear at your emotions. Unfortunately, every officer praised was guaranteed to be attacked by the petty, vindictive Police Brass.

I think one of the problems is we actually have TOO MANY police. That's right, too many. The focus is on quantity at the expense of quality. Given the historic distrust of NOPD, the last thing we need are more unqualified, underpaid rookies roaming the streets.

Since my last dictatorial proposals sparked some conversation, here's my second take:
* When evolutionary measures fail, launch a revolution!
* Disband NOPD (and I tend to be one of their defenders!). Fire Riley. Fire "Outa town" Brown.
* Replace it with an organization half the size, but with twice the pay
* Force transparency. Imagine if every time the police brass met, a video (minus mentions of specific cases) were posted on You Tube. Think about what Channel 9 has done for Microsoft. Huge bureaucracy exposed to the whithering barrage of bloggers, and yet it was a PR boon for Microsoft.
* Focus on quality of recruits. All should either have college degrees or be experienced officers. Let's start stealing from the manpower pool at JPSO and St. Tammany instead of the other way around.
* Give more autonomy to the good cops (whose names I won't mention here because it will only get them into trouble).
* Tweak things if you need to, but give it time to work.
* Instead of cameras of questionable efficiency and contractual origin, try Automated Shot Spotters. Publish the output from the system live on a website so anyone can view it.

WDSU Report

Something I've previously blogged about has made the news.

On WDSU this morning, they showed clips of the following you tube video.



It turns out I wasn't the only one watching the video. The FBI was also watching. They're going through the video and identifying convicted felons. Hmmm, if you're a convicted felon, it's probably not a good idea to wave a handgun or an AK-47 around. They can put you in jail for a long, long time for just possession of a firearm. And you were kind enough to give them the evidence. Crime fighting from a cubicle! Now there's something even Warren Riley can do!

Unfortunately, WDSU no longer has their news clip on their website, otherwise I'd include the link. The video also included some Arnie Fielkow's reaction to watching the You Tube videos. He had the basic, "oh, it's so horrible children could be watching this" reaction.

What's that sound?

The sound of a hammer hitting the nail on the head.

As sad as that sounds, I think it's true. I don't think he even cares. It's like we're on the sinking Titanic and Nagin and his crew are dragging the ship's safe out to their private lifeboat (or yacht)...all the while yelling "It's that damn iceberg's fault this ship is sinking! Don't look at us, it's not our fault....we're heros!"

Handicapping the Governor's Race

Well, Governor Blanco is out. She was a decent governor before Katrina, but then the wheels just fell off.

A lot of pundits out there are looking primarily at the failure of her Road Home program. While it isn't a shining example of success (or transparency in contracting), I think her failure is much more elemental. She made the one mistake no female chief executive can make: she was indecisive in a time of crisis. A note to any future female executive out there: in a time of crisis, you must channel Margaret Thatcher. Women executives must work twice as hard as men to combat the perception of weakness during times of crisis. That is sexist, but that's just the way things work, especially in a state like Louisiana.

Jindal was looking forward to election returns that would have been positively Soviet. I wouldn't be surprised if Jindal was already salivating over a possible cabinet post in 2008 or a later run at national office. And then things changed.

Now, he'll have to face one of the titans of Louisiana politics. The biggest question is whether or not he can run. I'm no expert, but I have a feeling that it won't be nearly the obstacle that some people are making it out to be.

Breaux will have to connect with a much younger voting pool. People my age or younger have never voted for him before and there are quite a few of us. He'll also have to campaign hard in St. Tammany Parish. For the rest of the state, all he'll probably have to do is distribute purple and gold "Geaux Breaux" bumper stickers and make sure he doesn't get Swift-boated.

Jindal's only hope is to slander Breaux with the "Politics of the Past" label (ask Nagin how, he knows how to do it). It's quite true that Breaux was VERY closely associated with some of the more 'colorful' politicians in the past, but, like the Landrieu clan or Harry Lee, has never gotten his nose dirty despite the close proximity. Is it a Teflon coating? Is he honest? That will be the deciding factor in the election.

Other challengers include Walter Oh-Noooo! Williams (another Ben Franklin alum - got to give him a plug) Walter Boasso and Foster Campbell (who could be the next Huey Long, but will more likely just get sidelined). Mitch or John Kennedy (who I have enormous respect for) could throw their hat into the ring if Breaux can't run or backs out at the last minute.

Another factor: this is either going to be the last open primary election or the first party primary election. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I can't remember which.

There's my take on things.

The latest craze sweeping New Orleans Blogosphere

SECESSION!

Alright, now that I've got your attention with a tabloid-worthy opener, here are the facts. We're going down the tubes. Our current political system is shot. The solution: we need to subject our political system to a controlled burn. Start from scratch.

I've talked about it already.

Others are starting to get the idea.

There's one HUGE obstacle, though: the political machines. The "Progressive" Democrats will fight this tooth and nail and will call in the big boys to prevent any attempt to reign in their power.

All we need to do is get a few neighborhoods out of the system and then momentum will take care of the rest. I'm sure Broadmor will be the leader, like usual. Algiers can get in on the act, too. They've NEVER been properly respected by the city. They'll secede and declare Jackie Clarkson Madame Empress and rejoice by doing, well, whatever Wankers do. Uptown will appoint Ron Forman CEO and their city council will be a Board of Directors. Each neighborhood will govern by their own flavor.

And when all is said and done, nobody will want Nagin for anything. Not even dog catcher.

America's Most Fortified City

So, I decided to put together a map based off a book: New Orleans: America's Most Fortified City. It details the extraordinary lengths various countries have gone to to protect New Orleans from its enemies. New Orleans is a strategically VITAL location. If you were to go up to some of the people who toiled and gave their blood, sweat, and tears to defending the city and told them, "Guess what, some people in America want to abandon New Orleans," well, let's just say he wouldn't take it too kindly.

More on the Forts of Louisiana.

The Google Earth Post and the Google Earth Map (API).

Zoomed out:

A closer look:

The other thing I learned doing this is all the coastal erosion that's happened over the past 300 years or so. There are some areas that don't exist anymore.

Look at Tower Dupre (which was originally built on dry land):

Small image I used to mark forts. You might have to download it and load it into Google Earth.

I'd love to get together a tour of these locations to see how some of them survived Katrina.

Slow on posting

Hey, sorry it's been a little slow. I've been busy and also took a trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I'll resume posting soon.

Odds and Ends

New Orleans murder rate worse than we thought. We're approaching Baghdad levels here, people. And that's NOT THE BAD NEWS. It's getting worse.

I've said it before: this summer, there is going to be a low-intensity conflict in parts of the city. The only thing that's going to save us from total anarchy is Jim Lenten. He's taking thugs off the street and keeping them off. More importantly, they have an active intelligence gathering operation underway and are targeting the drug kingpins in the city. The kingpins have gone untouched since Pennington was Chief. Good luck and Goodspeed, Lenten.

This is what logic looks like. Living in New Orleans, we need to remind ourselves every once in a while what sanity looks like.

On the bright side, they like it and they might be bringing a friend.

2 Letters to the Editor about Section 8 housing.

Jefferson Parish's answer to fighting crime: Buy up tenements and turn them into parks. What they forget to mention is those residents will inevitably come back to Orleans Parish, but I think that is part of the point. It's a shame very few other New Orleans bloggers read City Biz. It's one of the better news sources out there.

UPDATE- I'm too lazy to write a new post about just one thing, so I'll tack this on. Nola.com's "Crime Scene NOLA" blog written by (mostly) Jon Donley and an officer from FOP.