Posted on 08/29/2005 5:23:23 AM PDT by pabianice
You couldn't make this stuff up. Landrieu just spoke on Fox News, saying that the damage to LA will be worse than it had to be because "the government" (Evil Republicans) didn't spend enough money on building levees and other protective structures for New Orleans. She then stated that using the strategic oil reserves to alleviate shortages from damaged oil rigs wouldn't be of much help because "the government" (Evil Republicans) hasn't spent enough federal money (your money) in building a greater industrial base for LA, which "the government" (Evil Republicans) has neglected.
I feel so ashamed. If only I'd urged Evil Republicans to collect more taxes, none of this had to happen.
Maybe President Bush should reverse his designating Louisiana as a disaster area because of senator Landrieu's speach.
Gee, and I live in Tornado Alley. Those dumb-ass pioneers didn't check with NOAA before deciding to build. Sue the bastards!!
Of course FEMA is funded by ALL 50 states because hey, $#!t Happens, EVEN WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!
Yes, must go to DU right now and see what the 'bats are fluttering about...
Carol Mosley Braun is from ILLINOIS.
Bad enough New York has to take credit for Schumer and Hillary, who are both certainly very bad, but also certainly not stupid (at least not on that scale!)
Wasn't NO 12' below sea level when Bill Clinton was president for 8 years? Why didn't that compassionate icon, our first black president, build the levees and replace the pumps that must date from the Civil War?
By the way, I hate to bring this up, but WHERE is Sen. Vitter, the Republican? (I saw no one on any network but Mary Landreau and Gov. Blanco.) With the tin ear Republicans have for PR, I do hope he's not vacationing in France.
The dumb-asses to whom you are referring are the FRENCH, of course. Not only were they so shrewd as to choose a location 12' below the Gulf of Mexico, but for good measure, they choose to have the Mississippi River on one side and Lake Pontchartrain, half the size of RI, on the other.
And we are supposed to feel sorry for people who choose to live in this coastal death trap....
Ditto for California, my home state. I love hearing the liberals whine about losing bases.
Is there ANY Dem politician, besides Zell Miller, who has 3 working brain cells?
This has been a complaint in Louisiana for many years, all the way back to LBJ.
Part of the problem is that the Corps of Engineers has been fixed in conventional wisdom for a long time and has resisted many offering solutions in favor of keeping on with the same old, same old, concretize and channelize, without considering a larger picture and more effective methods.
The freakin' city is below sea, river, and lake level and this bozo blames Bush because things are going to get wet during a hurricane? Is that the short version? Do I have that about right?
I didn't use dumb-asses to refer to anyone. I was referring to a dumb-ass comment by someone else. People can choose to live anywhere they wish. As I mentioned in post #132, "for centuries people have been building their homes and cities on rivers, oceans, volcanoes, geological faults, etc."
New Orleans is a great American city with a rich history that has contrbuted to the greatness of this country. The famous Higgins boat was invented and manufactured there that helped us to take the fight to the enemy on Normandy and the Pacific. Over 20,000 boats were built there. It is no accident that New Orleans was selected as the site of the D-Day museum.
New Orleans has given us jazz, great cuisine, and much more. From its beginnings, New Orleans has been a city wed to river and ocean; an almost natural dock for the transshipment of goods. Pierce Lewis, perhaps its most knowledgeable scholar, describes New Orleans as the "inevitable city on an impossible site." It is a tribute to the ingenuity and greatness of Americans that a great city could be built and then flourish. Should New Orleans and Louisiana be ashamed of its French heritage? New Orleans (and Louisiana) was ruled by the French, the Spanish, and then the French before it was purchased by Jefferson in 1803. So for over 200 years, New Orleans has been an AMERICAN city.
Few census were taken during New Orleans' colonial period, but it is estimated that about 250 people lived in the town during the early 1700's. By 1760, the population numbered about 4,000, and by 1803, it was upwards of 8,000.
By 1800, New Orleans had become a center for the preparation, storage, shipping, and financing of local sugar and rice crops, cotton from further up the river, and wheat and other products from the American midwest. Clearly, no matter what Spain's wishes or policy, New Orleans' natural economic development was tied to its position near the outlet of the greatest river in the United States.
From 1803 until 1861, New Orleans' population increased from 8,000 to nearly 170,000. The 1810 census revealed a population of 10,000 making New Orleans the United States' fifth largest city, after New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore and the largest city west of the Appalachians. From 1810 until 1840, New Orleans grew at a faster rate than any other large American city. By 1830, New Orleans was America's third largest city, behind New York and Baltimore; and in 1860, it was still the nation's fifth largest city. New Orleans, despite the Post-Civil War boom that transformed the North into an urban-industrial area, would remain among the twelve largest U.S. cities until 1910.
New Orleans' growth between 1810 and 1860 was the result of its unique geographical situation, the increasing industrialization of the American Northeast and Great Britain, and the westward movement of the young United States.
And we are supposed to feel sorry for people who choose to live in this coastal death trap...
Coastal death trap? The city has been around nearly 300 years and is still going strong with over a million people in the metro area. Are these people stupid? Do they have a death wish? Give me a break.
Nobody is asking you to feel sorry for anyone. As fellow Americans, I wish them well during a great natural disaster that affects the residents of Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. I gather you feel that they got what they deserved. It takes all kinds I guess.
Netherlands North Sea Protection Works
This singularly unique, vast and complex system of dams, floodgates, storm surge barriers and other engineered works literally allows the Netherlands to exist. For centuries, the people of the Netherlands have repeatedly attempted to push back the sea, only to watch brutal storm surges flood their efforts, since the nation sits below sea level and its land mass is still sinking.
The North Sea Protection Works consists of two monumental steps the Dutch took to win their struggle to hold back the sea. Step one, a 19-mile-long enclosure dam, was built between 1927 and 1932. The immense dike, 100-yards thick at the waterline, collars the neck of the estuary once known as Zuiderzee. Step two, the Delta Project, was intended to control the treacherous area where the mouths of the Meuse and Rhine Rivers break into a delta. The project's crowning touch was the Eastern Schelde Barrier, a two-mile barrier of tell gates slung between massive concrete piers, which fall only when storm-waters threaten. The North Sea Protection Works exemplifies the ability of humanity to exist side-by-side with the forces of nature.
Over 25% of the Netherlands is below sea level. The balance of land averages only 37' above sea level. Much of the land that was once below sea level is today reclaimed and protected by 1,500 miles of dikes.
Don't liberals know how stupid they sound when they scream Bush's fault for anything and everything??
And, let me guess...you live in a double wide on a big old hill and you don't have a tornado bunker, right? If I guessed right, you're a dumb ass. We get twisters here in Michigan as well. We also have lots and lots of mobile home parks. Dumb ass central.
Incidentally, if my home were to be destroyed by a tornado, the loss would be covered by insurance. How does it work where you are?
You said it yourself: They choose to live there.
...and claim that you are paying for it.
Half my point, dear. Try not to pick and choose.
ALL taxpayers suffer the consequences of those who choose to live in areas that are not fit for habitation.
Not just me--all of us, whether we want to or not. As to who makes the decision about what land is habitable, in most cases, that is a tough call. Modern structures along the San Andreas fault seem to withstand some pretty strong earthquakes, that's for sure. I will not yield from my assertion that building a city below sea level in a freaking hurricane zone is such a stupid idea it can ONLY be French, as so many FReepers have pointed out. Idiocy.
I think you are suffering from coastal-envy. LOL.
You might want to get out an atlas and prove me wrong, but I believe Michigan has more coastline than any other state, including Alaska. I state that as fact, you may gleefully correct me if I'm wrong.
This really does sum it up. Other than a biodome, I don't know what would help. And it's sinking, levees and all.
-snip- because "the government" (Evil Republicans) hasn't spent enough federal money (your money) in building a greater industrial base for LA, which "the government" (Evil Republicans) has neglected."
Well, besides the oil refineries, isn't a major component of the economy based on tourism and to some extent gambling? Are those not viable economies in New Orleans?
Sorry, but I don't hold them culpable for being the victims of a natural disaster. There are very few places in this country that are immune to earthquakes, floods, tornados, hurricanes, etc. I don't blame the victims. Now we have terrorist attacks, which appear to target New York and Washington. I guess people who live there deserve what they get as well.
I will not yield from my assertion that building a city below sea level in a freaking hurricane zone is such a stupid idea it can ONLY be French, as so many FReepers have pointed out. Idiocy.
The Dutch have built a country that is largely below sea level. See my post #155. I agree with Pierce Lewis description of New Orleans as the "inevitable city on an impossible site." New Orleans has survived quite well for almost 300 years and will probably do so for another 300.
I really don't see the logic of your foolish assertion that this must be a stupid French idea to build a city below sea level in a hurricane zone. If that is the case, then Americans must be even stupider to remain in the same place for over 200 years and grow the population from 8,000 to over a million people. In point of fact, the location of New Orleans was a good idea, which helped develop the economy of the Midwest and the settling of the West. It was our third largest city until 1830 and the fifth largest until 1860.
You might want to get out an atlas and prove me wrong, but I believe Michigan has more coastline than any other state, including Alaska. I state that as fact, you may gleefully correct me if I'm wrong.
I was responding to your statement that, "I can rarely afford a trip to the coast to enjoy the view, but I get to help fund those who want to live by the ocean whether I want to or not." If you want to enjoy a coastal view, why don't you go to the coast of Lake Michigan or Huron? Surely, you can afford that.
Oh, by the way, Alaska claims it is the state with the longest coastline, i.e, 6,640 miles, greater than all of the other states combined. So does Louisiana because of its many bays and sounds, it has the longest coastline (15,000 miles) of any state and 41 percent of the nation's wetlands. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks them 1. Alaska (33,904);2. Florida (8,436), and 3. Louisiana 7,721. So what does Michigan claim? ,
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