September 09, 2005
Salvage
I am deeply suspicious of the motives of our current administration when it comes to the city of New Orleans. The press, who were finally horrified enough to report honestly for a few days, is now unwelcome. I think we have reason to suspect Dirty Business.
It is my belief that opportunism is rearing it's ugly head. We already know that Exxon/Mobil showed a 32% profit this quarter, and, in light of Katrina, has taken the opportunity to raise their prices just a bit more. Pat Robertson is out there "helping" (himself) with the assistance of FEMA website advertising. Betcha, in the end, Halliburton will get enormous, no bid contracts to rebuild the city, once again looting the national treasury. Perhaps they will subcontract a small piece of the action to Disney for a pristine restoration of the French Quarter, since they did such a great job on Times Square.
From Christopher Cooper of the Wall Street Journal
"The power elite of New Orleans -- whether they are still in the city or have moved temporarily to enclaves such as Destin, Fla., and Vail, Colo. -- insist the remade city won't simply restore the old order. New Orleans before the flood was burdened by a teeming underclass, substandard schools and a high crime rate. The city has few corporate headquarters.
"The new city must be something very different, Mr. Reiss says, with better services and fewer poor people. "Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a completely different way: demographically, geographically and politically," he says. "I'm not just speaking for myself here. The way we've been living is not going to happen again, or we're out."... or maybe we can just kill off the poor and put the survivors in internment camps.
Have we heard ANYTHING about building new and beautiful housing for the displaced poor, where they could have gardens, and improve their standard of living? Or would it serve the corporatocracy better if we just killed off half of "them" and put the other half in internment camps spread out around the country? I suspect that has already happened. When this administraton is properly motivated they can take swift action.
Photo note: Salvaged railings
and a Katrina Slide Show not to miss.