No matter which way you cut it, no matter what angle you look at it from, New Orleans is fucked. Fucked in a conglomeration of ways, kind of like a man whore at a gay gang-bang is getting dicks in every orifice and making ski poles out of the cocks in his hands, and there's still a line of dudes out the door waiting for a chance to fuck him some more.
If we had a mainstream media that gave a muddy-bubbled pig's fart about real news, they might talk about what came to light this week about the Army Corps of Engineers' installation of 40 new water pumps at New Orleans canals affected by Hurricane Katrina. Allegations by whistleblower and corps engineer Maria Garzino are that the pumps are "inherently flawed" and haven't been properly tested. Even with a second GAO investigation ongoing, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that compels the DOD to investigate the allegations and report on them within 120 days. Said OSC's Scott Bloch in his letter, "I am referring to you a whistleblower disclosure that employees at the Department of the Army, USACE, Mississippi Valley Division, New Orleans District, New Orleans, Louisiana, are responsible for a violation of a law, rule, or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, and a substantial and specific danger to public safety."
See, not only might the pumps not work, but the contract for the pumps went to Moving Water Industries, a Florida corporation. The owner of MWI is J. David Eller. Eller was once a business partner of Jeb Bush, you know, the former governor of Florida who happens to be the President's brother. Bush-El, as their company was known, marketed water pumps overseas. Eller has donated over $140,000 to Republican candidates over the last 15 years. The contract had a $5 million "incentive" to do the work quickly.
They don't even try to hide this shit, do they? They know that no one gives a good goddamn. Cronyism with connections to the president's family and the chance that it might lead to more destruction in New Orleans? Fuck that. Britney's visiting her kids.
As for living in post-Katrina land, check out this picture:
That's a picture of Tran Van Nich near his house, which is near a lot where one house was torn down and others are in various states of repair (see that in the background on the right? That's a trailer where someone's been living for the last two years). In this cul-de-sac in eastern New Orleans, there's been three murders in the last two months. The area outside the cul-de-sac is still decimated, where "Contractors and day laborers, who often carry equipment and large amounts of money, have been targeted by robbers. Home invasions are causing increasing alarm."
All that and the goddamn Saints are 0-4. It's like God just likes taking ginormous dumps on the Crescent City. And the rest of us just thank our lucky fuckin' stars it ain't happenin' here, as long as here is far enough away from New Orleans.
