01 May, 2008

Rich People Suck

In one of the rich neighborhoods I have been delivering in there are signs that I find to be a bit offensive. They are for a website that I believe is called Pump to the River. The point of this website, as best as I can discern, is to urge politicians and city planners to pump flood waters into the Mississippi River. If you are not from New Orleans this may not sound like a problem. But it really is. They already have the spillway here open because the river was getting too high. The spillway allows overflow from the river to fill what amounts to acres of barren land, for those that don't know. During Katrina, on top of the levees breaking, the river overflowed at certain points which contributed to the general flooding. So basically these rich assholes want to pump water back into the river to keep themselves from being flooded (the bottom of their little signs read "so we stay dry"). Now, having been through Katrina and having my own property flooded, I would not wish that upon anyone. But if it is going to happen who is in better position to recover quicker than millionaires? There was a plan during the storm or thereafter (not sure when) to redirect the water into a nearby playground and golf course. Of course the rich bastards wanted nothing to do with that. Heaven forbid that their golf course get a little extra water (since water is so bad for grass). Let the people in the poor neighborhoods suffer instead. After all, they are poor because they want to be (yes, there are people stupid enough in this world to actually believe that poor people are allergic to making money). Now, as with every issue, I'm sure there are two sides to this story but for the life of me I can't side with people who would callously let other people suffer just to protect their privileged lifestyles. Maybe money does change people. Maybe it makes them stupid.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Sean, I miss your rants. It's good to hear you go off on something again. I agree with your point. I think pumping that water in the Mississippi is a terrible idea. Why waste time? Can't you just divert it directly to the downtown areas?

Just joking. I look forward to your retort.

haonmot's woman said...

I am going to research this web site later today and will give a more detailed comment after I research the site. Yes, there are two sides to every story and the ONLY way this would work and not effect anyone else is if they open the MRGO. Maybe they know something St. Bernardians don't know.

haonmot's woman said...

OK, looked at the site, the map and read about it. From what I understand they want to relieve the pressure from the entire 17th Street Canal (the canal everyone saw on tv which broke in two areas). The canal is narrow and runs from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. They want to replace the pumping station at the lake end and build one close to the river end. This would benifit the poor neighborhoods down on the river end of the canal as well.

What hurt the neighborhoods along the 17th Street Canal was the lack of upkeep of the levee system over the years by the Corps of Engineers. True, the levee could not take the pressure of the water coming from the Lake BUT if the Corps would have kept up with the levee the levee would have been able to sustain itself. In my opinion it is the Corps' way of putting blame on something else. True, the pumping stations are not all that good in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, hence the reason we got so much water in our home, but there is NOTHING one can do about the pressure of the water.

Katrina's storm surge was about 22 feet. Think about 22 ft of water being pushed onto land and through all the little water inlets LA has as its border, the pressure is going to be astronomical, which it was. My grandmothers home was completely underwater (15 - 20 ft. was predicted) the water she received, in the Parish of St. Bernard, was from the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain. That was the storm surge.

This is a topic that is tender and close to my heart. I could go on and on but in a nutshell in my opinion you can not prevent a storm surge and that is what Katrina brought; a storm surge. The Hurricane is what it was and there will be another one like it one day.

Sean, you need to go drive through Hollygrove (DURING THE DAY...LOL) and the other neighborhood which is next to it at river and see if they have signs in their yards as well. If they do then I say the plan is legit. The verbiage "slogan" is horrible and in poor taste but it may be a win for all.

because I said so.... said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
because I said so.... said...

I think you should go back through that neighborhood and ask all the homeowners with the signs in their yards for verification of their degrees in environmental science or civil engineering, etc. funny how owning a big ass house all of sudden makes you an authority on what's best for the rest of civilization.

because I said so.... said...

oh, this is Ya Ya Gutsy btw..

you know.. the Canadian, eh?