RTP-area local music and culture

[Duncan Murrell <dvmurrell AT nc.rr.com>]

$32 billion is what's needed, and that includes both Hurricane 5  
protection and a full-on coastal restoration program. If Louisiana  
retained 25% of the revenue the feds earn from Louisiana's offshore  
oil and natural gas that's processed and shipped out of Louisiana,  
that would earn the state around $1.5 billion a year. When spread  
over the 20 years or so it would take to build those kind of levees  
and restore such extensive wetlands, and assuming production stayed  
steady,  such a tithing would pay for it.

We could use your extra $18 billion, Grady,  to improve schools and  
teacher pay, shut down the MR-GO, and help a few people build some  
houses, just for starters.

d


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan Murrell
www.rattlejar.com


On Dec 13, 2005, at 2:46 PM, grady wrote:

> One potentially useful thing on Senator Dole's website (I mean,  
> would be
> more useful if it said "yes, everything is under control, the National
> Guard is being remobilized to the Gulf, and we've just appropriated  
> $50
> billion to rebuild the levees," but ya takes what you can get around
> here, apparently) is this link to the government volunteer-opportunity
> clearinghouse:     http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/
>
> Try not to barf at all the Bush-glorification all over it, and just
> click one of the big boxes in the middle to be whisked to a list of
> volunteer opportunities in your choice of gulf states.
>
> Chris Calloway wrote:
> > --- grady <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote:
> > > There seems to be some widespread delusion among the
> > > federales that
> > > everybody in America is gonna rise up & volunteer 2
> > > weeks of their time
> > > to go down & rebuild the entire region without the
> > > government actually
> > > having to do anything.
> >
> > well, since the government isn't doing anything, in
> > addition to calling, that's what i'm going to do. from
> > what i hear, the little coordinated efforts where
> > people are reinventing their own little church
> > sponsored government operations aren't doing so well,
> > either. so, i have this bonus week of vacation from
> > the state in lieu of a raise, and that's how i and my
> > pickup truck are gonna spend it. i'm just going to
> > find somebody who needs my help and go help them. it
> > won't rebuild jack shit. but maybe it will lessen
> > somebody's misery for a time.
> >
> > "The federal government decided long ago to try to
> > tame the river and the swampy land spreading out from
> > it. The country needed this waterlogged land of ours
> > to prosper, so that the nation could prosper even
> > more.
> >
> > "Some people in Washington don't seem to remember
> > that. They act as if we are a burden. They act as if
> > we wore our skirts too short and invited trouble. "
> >
> > http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/news/content/ 
> > editorial112005.html
> >
> > there's this guy i only know by his comments in free
> > for all blog with several thousand participants. he's
> > interesting enough that i've read every one of this
> > three thousand plus comments in that blog. he's a kind
> > and giving soul. i know other people who do know him
> > irl enough to know he's not a sock puppet on the blog.
> > he's a nola funeral director, from what i gather. he
> > went around in a boat after katrina fishing old
> > grannies off rooftops. he was sending out messages
> > like these:
> >
> > "I have a friends mother who is trapped in New Orleans
> > and I need to find out who I need to contact to let
> > them know where she is. Red Cross is no help. If
> > anyone out there knows who I can contact, please let
> > me know."
> >
> > a little later:
> >
> > "She is at 406 South Gate Drive in Metairie. Her
> > daughter spoke to a few minutes ago. She cannot leave
> > on her own because of an injured leg."
> >
> > and a little later:
> >
> > "It's getting dark in New Orleans and raining a little
> > bit. She's on crutches and can't really move around
> > well on her own. After speaking to the Coast Guard,
> > I've advised her to stay put in her apartment since
> > she has a working phoneline and some food and wait
> > until morning. Then, she's going to move towards the
> > interstate and flag down whomever she can. It's not a
> > fancy plan, but it's all I've got."
> >
> > this was his despair *three months later*:
> >
> > "Here's something I've been wanting to ask. It's hard
> > for me to judge, since I'm down here in the middle of
> > this, and all we seem to do down here is talk about
> > the hurricane and reconstruction.
> >
> > Tell me honestly: does anyone care anymore about what
> > is happening in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?"
> >
> > After some, uh, the usual prevarications, he piped
> > back in:
> >
> > "The previous comments have shown me that we are, in
> > fact, being left to fend for ourselves down here.
> > (except for the volunteers who are doing their part--I
> > love you all).
> >
> > "Pretty much what I thought.
> >
> > "I wasn't trying to say that the devastation to New
> > Orleans and the Gulf Coast are equal to other recent
> > tragedies (but it is nice to know that body count is
> > apparently the only number that counts), I was just
> > wondering if anyone in the world who isn't from here
> > really fucking cares whether or not the city and
> > region survives.
> >
> > "I guess I lived under the delusion that the world has
> > missed us and will miss us. I'm sure that if Miami or
> > Orlando or even, say, Atlanta had 80% of the city
> > destroyed, the effort to rebuild would be larger and
> > more determined. At least, I hope it would be.
> >
> > "I wonder what the problem is here. Is it us? Is it
> > because we didn't evacuate soon enough? Is it because
> > this could happen again someday in the future? Are we
> > not worth the chance? Is it because no one takes us
> > seriously because of Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras? Is
> > it because we're black? Is it?
> >
> > "It's hard for me to be objective about this, it
> > really is. So, I'll spare you all the anger I felt
> > reading some of these comments. I hope nothing like
> > this ever happens to any of you, but if I does, I hope
> > I'll still be thinking about you 85 days later."
> >
> > knowing something about the writer of those words just
> > drives me insane.
> >
> > whatever people do, call, take vacation, whatever, i
> > just want to encourage people not to let this die of
> > neglect. this is probably preaching to the choir, cuz
> > you all probably have someone you know on the gulf who
> > can tell or who has told you this kind of stuff. but
> > it just didn't know for sure if people were thinking
> > and remembering.
> >
> > 3
> >
> >
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene