How Fares My Sweet And Sinful New Orleans?

[dbt]

My Darling, I am a faithless lover. I have not been back to you since Katrina because I have not the strength to look upon you in your devastation. I cannot bear to see you as a cripple now, not after all the passionmarks you have left on my soul.

So I watch what passes for the TV News in the America that kicked you to the curb. And it tells me that all the hotel rooms are full and that the Parades are coming. Is this the Truth or is it what a few Corporations want me to think?

I hear that the Tourists are coming back--that there will be another Mardi Gras. Is this so? Then I see the People who still don't have electricity or running water or even safety from bullets, and I grieve again. I see Chocolate Ray asking where the money is, then I see that Homeland Security Fool who looks just like Satan assuring me that all is well and on schedule.

So I come back Here after swearing to myself I never would, because there are a Few Who Know. I call on them now: Swamp Rat, BOSSHOG and any/all of you DUers who live near Her and who know the Real Deal about New Orleans. Can I quit my crying yet? Do I dare drive across Ponchartrain again? Did the Gumbo survive and how are the Old Men at Preservation Hall? Do the Neville Brothers still kick everybody else's ass right down into the Gulf, and what of Doreen and her Jazz New Orleans out on the street by the grocery store of a Sunday afternoon?

Can I BELIEVE again, or is it All Over?

Anxiously Yours,
dbt
I :loveya: New Orleans

[AtomicKitten]

1. I realize there is much on Congress' plate but

they must deal with the Katrina debacle and subsequent neglect. The people of NOLA continue to suffer.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. K&R

. . . in memory of a magnificent week there, half a lifetime ago.

[salin]

3. Wish I had familiarity and could answer you -

I had always intended to visit, but never made it. Hopefully those in the know can report in.

There have bee some very troubling stories in the news media - efforts to condemn public housing units that are safe - in order to build lower density higher income housing while reserving some housing for those being displaced (less than 10%) :cry:

Good to see you dbt, I hope that you are well.

salin

[Swamp Rat]

4. We're still here

Mardi Gras is happenin' right now! Last night I went to see Endymion and also went to a show (Brazilian music).

A LOT of people still don't have electricity, gas, and running water, and I was driving home last night from a show when I heard a gun shot (Tulane Ave.). Hell, my neighborhood just got hit by a tornado(s), but folks are already trying to fix their homes. For many, though, it IS over because they cannot come back to NOLA or they don't want to return, for whatever reason.

Despite all our problems we are celebrating Mardi Gras because that is who we are.

Come on down and PARTY!!! :party: Since the federal govt abandoned us and our levees and homes are still not fixed, I assume this will be the last Mardi Gras... I will assume this every year after surviving the previous hurricane season. O8)

[dbt]

7. The Blessings of the Goddess be on you, RAT BOY!!!!

THANK YOU for the favor of a reply. If I can get There AT ALL, I will be having gumbo and Draft Abita for breakfast on Tuesday!

Peace be upon New Orleans and all who enter there!

:smoke:
dbt
Swamp Rat World Fan Club, Arkansas Chapter

[Suich]

5. I've been checking the paradecam here:

www.NOLA.com

There's one on Bourbon Street, too.

:hi:

[WinkyDink]

6. Well, I don't know. The winner of American Idol 5 is King of Endymion.

Heh.