Is at all possible for us from NO to speak and dumb fucks to cool

[OBrien]

with their inanae posts. For fuck sakes I've started so god many posts but they get ignored cuz the regular folk have something they no nothing about to regurgitate ooooh fuck it all

[catnhatnh]

1. Yes -SPEAK OH WISE ONE......

....to yourself I expect...

[growlypants]

52. hahaha!

[kansasblue]

2. if it's ok we'll read it, if it's good we'll kick it, if it's great we'll

nominate it for greatests.

Lot's of chatter. Everyone likes to post. Keep trying.

[Big Kahuna]

3. I would like to hear what you have to say.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. OBrien, I'm listening. Go for it. All mine have pretty much dropped

as well. I always go for the low post threads. :hi:

[Splatter Phoenix]

5. v_V everyone's got the right to speak...

That includes them.

[faithnotgreed]

6. obrien things are moving fast & furious here but please talk to us

sorry you dont feel listened to
i know we would like to hear what youre feeling

[Mikimouse]

7. O'Brien...O'Brien to the white courtesy phone!

Speak to us and we will listen and participate.:hippie:

[lukasahero]

8. I would like to hear what you have to say

I hope you are safe. I hope your family is safe. And I'm far more interested in what you think we can/should do to help you and your neighbors than reading much of the rest of what I'm seeing here.

How can I help? Seriously. Many want to but don't know what to do or how.

[OBrien]

9. my grief has no bounds

My now homeless brother is wife and two dogs are with us in Houston. We have sat and watched as our beloved city crumble. For those who have never
been to New Orleans...it's such a special place indescriable really..you must have a soul to understand it. It was a SHARED community for the love of food, music and yes spirits. Black, white, young, old, gay straight. We all had the love of the city in common and it kept us CONNECTED SPIRITUALLY

[laylah]

10. My heartfelt

sympathies for you and yours, OBrien :hug: I cannot fathom the pain and anguish :cry:

Jenn

[Eloriel]

11. Well that certainly explains to me why they had to allow it to be

destroyed.

it kept us CONNECTED SPIRITUALLY

I am so very sorry. Please continue to share your pespective -- and your grief -- with us. We DO care, and ARE interested.

[Mikimouse]

13. It was a wonderful place, a place one could have ...

a completely unexpected belly laugh anytime at all, great food, great culture and great people. I lived there as a child, and have visited many times in adulthood. The spirit will not die, just the framework that was built up around it. I am grateful that your bro and family are safe and sound with you.

[erinlough]

14. I have visited and I agree.

I felt an intense spiritual connection, Like I belonged there. Some people would talk about visiting and express their fear or mistrust. Not me, I met and talked with a poet in Jackson square and I had an ease with my visit that always matched the name,Big Easy. I was hoping to come back to visit again. I will, no matter what, I will.

[KamaAina]

17. "You must have a soul to understand it"

So THAT'S what took Bush** so goddamned long to get down there! They had to get him one from Rent-A-Soul! :evilgrin:

I realize now how many of the formative experieinces of my life happened in N.O. (early '90s) I have spent quite some time over the years imagining the city as it might appear in the future (from an urban development perspective, obviously, not this apocalyptic one); if and when that knowledge becomes useful, you know you've got it.

[Chovexani]

21. I'm praying for you guys

And I know what you mean about the community feeling of New Orleans. I only got to visit there a couple of times but it really was a one of a kind community...I have to believe the spirit of that place won't die, no matter what happens.

I'm with you and your family and so is the world. :hug:

[smurfygirl]

25. I am crying for you and yours tonight my friend

I too carry the love you have for your city. I'll never forget the wonderful memories I have there, or the wonderful people. We are crying with you. I'm glad you all are safe. Please share more with us. It helps to let it out.
:cry: :hug:

[faithnotgreed]

26. hugs for you and your family obrien

yes
we all need each other
yes new orleans has a special soul

im so sorry for all that has been lost and all the pain youre feeling
thank you for sharing this with us
please let it all out

prayers for you and your brother & family & for all of new orleans and those devastated throughout

[Beausoir]

37. I've never been to NO.

Tell me more about your city in the past and what you hope for it in the future.

I regret that I have never visited.

I WILL go.

[Blue_In_AK]

46. OBrien, please accept my sorrow....

I've only been through your beautiful city -- and it was long ago -- but please know that we are crying with you up here in Anchorage.

[SmokingJacket]

55. a marvelous city, words don't do it justice...

you're right about the spiritual connection...

:hug:

[Carni]

61. It is a wonderful place

It's everything you just said.

I am so sorry about what is happening in your wonderful home city.

I hope this rancid event and the way the citizens of NO have been treated (not to mention the flooding) doesn't ruin the people and their unique character forever.

[Catherine Vincent]

72. We feel your pain, O'Brien.

From another Houstonian.:hi:

[alcibiades_mystery]

85. Yes

I've only been to New orleans as a tourist and on business, all as an adult, and all well post-college. We had friends living there too, so we didn't do the usual tourist thing only. I'm a New yorker, and nobody's gonna tell me there's a better city than New York, but damned if New orleans didn't come within a hair's bredth. And sure you right: you need a soul to really tune into its vibe, to its ancient energy just vibrating like a guitar string, humming through the air. My thoughts are with your family, and your city, that other family we who fall in love with cities get to share.

[misanthrope]

90. I'm with you...

...Mobile and New Orleans have an oddly connected past and strange relationship with many parallels, connections and a lot of shared history.

Though a lot of Mobilians won't admit it, we know that New Orleans is the capital of America's most unique region, the Creole Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It's a place of jambalaya and etouffee and gumbo and brown pelicans and Mardi Gras and Twelfth Night and a weird blend of cultures that set the mold for the nation as a cosmopolis.

This is like losing a sibling community in a lot of ways.

[laylah]

12. This person needs to be HEARD! n/t

[erinlough]

16. kick

[IChing]

15. you have my ear- please post- !!!!!!!

[childslibrarian]

Kick

[steve2470]

19. kick nt

[OBrien]

18. sorruy I started antoher thread too but you must hear this

I saw today Wolf interview a white woman who is now in Baltimore. She and 300 hundred of her rich friends had been stayin at the Ritz Carolton. They were evacutated when supplies were out by ARMED BUSES!!!! her name? Phylis Peytrich remember that name

[progressivebydesign]

23. Many hotels chartered buses and security to evacuate. n/t

[OBrien]

24. have your heard this??

300 fucking rich evacuated before with athere own armed guards

[IChing]

30. it sucked big time, I read it but can't find the link.........

[MercutioATC]

40. I understand you're upset, but if they payed for a private evacuation

and that's what they got, what's the problem?

Lots of wealthy people pay for security systems that the less fortunate can't afford...it's the same thing, isn't it?

[erinlough]

48. Your answer is indicative of what I think the problem is

we have come to think of money and affluence as worthy in and of itself. There is no working for the Greater Good of All. If that is what we are doing, then those who had been in the most distress would have had priority.

[MercutioATC]

51. I haven't seen anything indicating that PUBLIC evacuations favored

wealthy whites.

I'd completely agree with you if I saw that.


We're talking about a PRIVATE company that fulfilled a contract with individual homeowners.

[erinlough]

56. IMO, and I'm not trying to start

anything. Public Good trumps the ability to pay. I have always thought that the ability to give up something you have the means to own "for the public good" is the mark of a democratic society.

[MercutioATC]

60. I do see your point, and in a perfect world money wouldn't be an issue.

My point is that the buses and guards were only there because they were fulfilling a contract. It isn't like they were there, happened upon some rich people, and hauled them out.

If the contract didn't exist, nobody would have been evacuated (and FEMA would have had a couple of busloads MORE people to worry about).

[DoYouEverWonder]

65. New Orleans is under Marshall Law

Who even allowed the private buses in to take away just the rich people?

[MercutioATC]

67. Not all of it is/was under marshal law.

When did the evac take place and in what parish?

[DoYouEverWonder]

69. The 300 rich people are in the Ritz Carlton

isn't that in Downtown New Orleans?

If it is then they are in the zone that has been closed off and most of the people in that zone are not being allowed to leave.

BTW: If you haven't noticed they are turning the Superdome into a concentration camp. It will be interesting when all the waterborne germs start taking effect.

[MercutioATC]

71. WHEN were they evacuated?

[DoYouEverWonder]

77. Sometime yesterday after Wolf Blitzer interviewed

one of the women that was stranded there. Notice they are already talking about infectious diseases setting in.


PHYLISS PETRICH, STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS: I'm at the Ritz Carlton on Canal Street in the French Quarter.

BLITZER: How long have you been there?

PETRICH: We arrived here actually for holiday on Thursday evening and we were evacuated to the Grand Ballroom by the middle of the night Sunday. We have been on rations since then. They have evacuated some of the hotel. There are about 300 people left. The Ritz is trying to get buses in here. FEMA will not let them in. They got a group out last night. And of the three buses that got out, FEMA commandeered one of them. We have no idea where they've taken those people. We're in dire straits here. There is no electricity. The sewage is backing up. As I said, the water supply is running low.

We do have a team here of infection diseases doctors that were here for a conference who have set up a small infirmary to care for the cases of dysentery and vomiting that have come up, as well as other people who have had some illnesses. But all of those medications are now being depleted, and I don't know that anyone is aware that we're here. I realize we're not top priority on anyone's list, but we are here and we are in dire straits, and we need someone to know that we're here, to come in and help to get us out of here.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/sitroom.01.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

83. They also evacuated the Marriott = Report dated 09/02

WASHINGTON -- Marriott International at press time had chartered motorcoaches and hired a cadre of security guards help secure the evacuation of 350 guests and employees still remaining in its Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott are the last two of 15 Marriott-branded hotels in New Orleans that remained occupied. Most of the guests and employees were in the Ritz-Carlton, a 575-room property on Canal Street.

Officials, speaking during a telephone press conference Sept. 1, said moving them over to the JW Marriott, a few blocks away, was proving to be cumbersome due to the fact that the Ritz-Carlson was surrounded by about four feet of water.

“It has been very difficult to get the people out,” said Jeff Wolf, Marriott’s regional vice president of marketing operations. “We have been able to move 600 people through and get them evacuated” to the JW Marriott, where motorcoaches were waiting to transport them to Baton Rouge, La.

At one point during the storm, the hotels provided shelter to as many as 2,500 people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=104&topic_id=4592188&mesg_id=4594155

[MercutioATC]

89. Again PRIVATE evacuation...

If a hotel pays to evacuate its guests, I have no problem with that.

[erinlough]

70. She was at the Ritz

and she stated that FEMA gave the ok and they were protected by national guard members with guns. She said they waited until 12:00 midnight supposedly because there would have been trouble if they were seen being evacuated. That is what I heard when she was interviewed on CNN by phone.

[MercutioATC]

73. THAT'S a different story.

If it was a NG evacuation, I share your outrage.

[DoYouEverWonder]

59. That's because wealthy whites

don't need public evacuations. Most of them got out before the storm anyway because they had cars and could afford hotels.

BTW: The 2000 Census reported that 100,000 HOUSEHOLDS in New Orleans did not have vehicles. The Federal Government looked at this date when they did their emergency planning and knew that many of these people would not be able to get out during a mandatory evacuation on their own. They knew the storm was coming for three days. By Sunday it was apparent that it was hitting very close if no on NO. They did nothing to help the poor people of New Orleans to get out. They didn't even try to evacuate the hospitals, where the most helpless people would be. They did nothing.

[MercutioATC]

62. That's a great argument for social reform.

It really doesn't have anything to do with this situation, however (IMO).

Post #60 above pretty much explains why I see it that way.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DemBones DemBones]

36. NO! That's what freepers do. Leave her alone. nt

[The Wielding Truth]

31. How could they get to her and not other that were dying?

[MercutioATC]

43. Because (from what OBrien is saying) they were a PRIVATE company.

They were esentially armed chauffers.

They did exactly what they were payed to do.

[Carni]

66. I heard that and her tone just didn't get it

She may as well have come right out and said "Thank God they got us out of here and away from *these* people"

I hate to say it publicly but I wasn't feeling too warm and fuzzy about her *escape* after listening to her.

[newswolf56]

82. My heartfelt sorrow for not only your loss but the loss of...

New Orleans and so many of its people. I think if you read my posts you will see the anger I feel at the causes and motives behind the city's destruction -- a destruction I have already labeled "genocide-by-neglect." It is an anger many times just now intensified by hearing on CNN that the troops now in the city have been strictly instructed in the Rove/Norquist/Goebbels techniques of making their presence appear to be "a humanitarian mission."

Though I am mostly retired now, I have been a print journalist nearly all my adult life. I have covered ruinous floods; have sandbagged against rising waters too. Have covered riots, epic fires that destroyed whole blocks, blizzards, even one air crash. I have never seen anything remotely like this. The only thing in my experience that even compares is the vast community of homeless war refugees still living along the Han River outside Seoul even eight years after the regular fighting had stopped. That was surely stunning to my 21-year-old soldier's eyes. But this debacle I am seeing in New Orleans is infinitely worse even when viewed through the sterile distance of television. Infinitely worse -- the unforgivable damnation of American politics and the capitalist malevolence that is the pale underbelly of American politics -- a bitter indictment that has no precedent in U.S. history.

I share your heartbreak; ultimately I can find no words adequate to express my outrage at what has been done to your city and its people.

Please keep posting as you can.

[ismnotwasm]

20. hey, speak up OBrien

I want to hear what you have to say.

[crispini]

22. SPEAK!

[steve2470]

27. agreed, speak OBrien ! nt

[erinlough]

29. O'brien, not to make you sad

but what will be your most indelible memory of the old NO? Mine will be the street performers and their friendliness. The man who shined my tennis shoes who gave us the best tips on where to go and what to do is in my heart forever. Dancing to traditional music while we had dinner and hearing the wonderful music where ever we went was heaven. I'm so thankful I have these memories.

[OBrien]

33. I lived uptown in the Tchoupazine

on Valence Street.. home of the Neville Brothers. A few blocks from Tpitinias. Sad thing is most tourists only go to the Quarter. There is so much more than that.

[erinlough]

35. So True

I only had 5 days, but my plan is to visit for a longer time and enjoy more of what will be there.:)

[bvar22]

53. Louisiana and Coliseum St here:

Born in Baptist Hospital and lived Uptown for 40 years.
Love Chopizine and Magatoulous area
Ever eat at Casamentos?

Recently moved to Minneapolis, but New Orleans is my HOME.

I feel you.

[OBrien]

58. that fine white tile

lived three blocks away. Only erstas in the "r" months though!

[bvar22]

84. Most tourists never see the REAL New Orleans.

In fact, the tourist side of New Orleans does NOT appeal to me. It is phony.
The New Orleans I love is neighborhood crawfish boils and Red Beans and Rice with Andoulle Sausage on Mondays. I hope THAT New Orleans will live on.

I shuddreed when bush* said HE was going to rebuild New Orleans.

[OBrien]

32. My neighbor Mike and his mom stayed behind

they didn't evacuate. Joan had diabetese, Mike would not leave his mom or home. His momma made some of the best gumbo i've ever had. made with pride I have no idea where they could, be Mike has my phone number in Houston ,I can only hope.
When our elderly neighbors wife died this past Feb, We got the phone call in Houston and were on the next flight over to NO. The whole neoghborhood was there. That's natuarlly NAWLINS

[Sunkiss BlueStar]

34. Kickin with Tears

my eyes are so red I can't take it.
:dem: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[OBrien]

38. Sing along... thank you Louis Armstrong

Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans ------Louis Armstrong
Do you know what it means to miss New OrleansAnd miss it each night and dayI know I'm not wrong... this feeling's gettin' strongerThe longer, I stay awayMiss them moss covered vines...the tall sugar pinesWhere mockin' birds used to singAnd I'd like to see that lazy Mississippi...hurryin' into spring

The moonlight on the bayou.......a Creole tune.... that fills the airI dream... about Magnolias in bloom......and I'm wishin' I was there

Do you know what it means to miss New OrleansWhen that's where you left your heartAnd there's one thing more...I miss the one I care forMore than I miss New Orleans

(instrumental break)

The moonlight on the bayou.......a Creole tune.... that fills the airI dream... about Magnolias in bloom......and I'm wishin' I was there

Do you know what it means to miss New OrleansWhen that's where you left your heartAnd there's one thing more...I miss the one I care forMore.....more than I miss.......New Orleans

[OBrien]

39. Please kick for Louis Armstrong!!

[DemBones DemBones]

41. I know what it means. We were going to go down there the end of Sept.

It'll be rebuilt but it won't be the same. Maybe it can be as good, though, despite the differences.

But it's like someone I've known most of my life has died.

[OBrien]

42. will somebody please sing the song with me?

you must know it

[DemBones DemBones]

44. We're singing. nt

[erinlough]

45. In my heart, in my heart I'm singing. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

49. Louis Armstrong is my childhood hero... I learn to play trumpet

because of him. I saw him at Jazz Fest when I was 4 or 5.

My beautiful city is dying right before our eyes... my friends, my dogs, my home... all this, live on TV.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[erinlough]

57. Harry is singing it right now!!!! sing along. n/t

[zippy890]

47. We hear you, & cry for the loss of this truly American city

Hope that we can rebuild and restore it, better this time - where the poor people aren't in the lowest part of the city - where all the displaced can return and bring their sense of community back with them.

Love to you and you family & friends, we will do everything to support the restoration of this wonderful city. We can't lose our soul, and it sounds like New Orleans was that.

[Swamp Rat]

50. I'm listening brother

:hug: This is KILLING me inside! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[OBrien]

54. it's sister, now if we could teach these DUers to make gumbo!!

yum!!! SO very, very sorry Swamprat. We got to keep it's spirit alive. Thanks all for listeneing much appreciated

[Swamp Rat]

78. I ate crafwish etoufee here in Memphis last night at Joe's Crab Shack

:puke: ... a waste of prescious funds! I need a po-boy from Domilises and an Abita!!! :cry:

Guess I'll go get a bean burrito for lunch/dinner. :(

Sorry sister! :hug:

[OBrien]

81. I know? Knew? Dot Domilese

her best friend lived across the street from us. I just saw her in Feb for a funeral. How do eat a juicy roast beef poboy? with a raincoat!

[kath]

87. Ewwww, Joe's Crab Shack - our family had one of our worst meals EVER

at the Joe's in OKC. YUCK!

[Swamp Rat]

79. I ate crawfish etoufee here in Memphis last night at Joe's Crab Shack

:puke: ... a waste of prescious funds! I need a po-boy from Domilises and an Abita!!! :cry:

Guess I'll go get a bean burrito for lunch/dinner. :(

Sorry sister! :hug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

63. Could you ask that in English?

Might help.

[OBrien]

64. sure... Fuck You

[Rabrrrrrr]

68. Oh, that's so wonderfully clever! "fuck you"!

Oh, I've been shot down, that's for sure.

Gosh.

I still wish I knew what you were talking about, but what the hell, if you'd rather "fuck you" left and right, have at it.

Obviously, I'm irrelevant, so, you know, as I said, what the hell.

C'est la vie.

[Catherine Vincent]

74. You two behave now.

:spank:

[OBrien]

80. I can barely grasp the astouding insensitvity of you

so I must let you go please go away

[Stephanie]

86. Did you read the whole thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4592188&mesg_id=4592660

[McCamy Taylor]

75. Reads like english to me, but what do I know? I'm Gulf Coast bred

myself. My heart feels like there is a great big hole of dark, cold water filling up inside of it. A city that I have loved all my life has died, and though it will be remade, it will never be the same again.

[demodonkey]

76. Kicked & recommended. I was there this Spring. God Bless you & NO, OBrien!

:kick:

[Swamp Rat]

88. Kick for Naturally N'awlins

Dawlin'! ;)