Barges sometimes ran aground near where I lived on the Mississippi River. That makes a great noise.

A bridge is much more vulnerable than is a levy. A levy has much in common with a dam in that they are both made up of a mound of earth, often with a core of rocks and a rip-rap or concrete cap. A levy is frequently so large that there is a road on top of it. A light hearted saying among pilots is: "It's a damn poor bridge that won't stop a tow." There is some truth to this. Somewhere on the internet is a well known set of pictures of a tow boat swept sideways into a bridge . The boat was turned completly upside down and righted again without damaging the bridge. --FLO--

Uncle Flo (imported) wrote: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:05 pm A bridge is much more vulnerable than is a levy. A levy has much in common with a dam in that they are both made up of a mound of earth, often with a core of rocks and a rip-rap or concrete cap. A levy is frequently so large that there is a road on top of it. A light hearted saying among pilots is: "It's a damn poor bridge that won't stop a tow." There is some truth to this. Somewhere on the internet is a well known set of pictures of a tow boat swept sideways into a bridge . The boat was turned completly upside down and righted again without damaging the bridge. --FLO--

I have seen barges that ran into the two big bridges in Baton Rouge. Those bridges are strong. I am trying to remember the name of the "land" between the riverside of levees and the river. It sounds somthing like Bachoree--but the spelling is not anything like that. That is where runaway barges landed when I lived in New Orleans.

The Mississippi River was low at the time of this storm. That helped. Of course, the river would usually be low at this time of year.

I love New Orleans and I love Cajun country. Our cultures are rich. Our people are fine. We have many problems, but one has to love such people as live here.

Actually there were many Christians in New Orleans and its surrounding communities. Many are thankful that though they had to leave everything else behind they could at least carry their Bibles out with them when they fled, and yes, they are finding nourishment in them, not for the body, but for the soul, something that may be more important than MREs when it comes to starting your life all over again.

There is a lesson in the Southern Decadence thing that should be pointed out. New Orleans has poured its resources into promoting this kind of tourism. What if the money had gone into building higher levees and other flood control measures, or into better disaster planning and preparation? The public image of New Orleans in fact is very misleading, and does a great disservice to many who live there, who do not get drunk every night, or vomit on the pavements, or have sex in the streets.

Those who jump to the conclusion that God was punishing New Orleans because the people there were greater sinners than elsewhere need to read and ponder Luke 13:1-9. God has posted a warning to the American people. There is much that is wrong in our great cities. There are large numbers of people who live in squalid, huddled masses, who are a danger to themselves and a burden to society. There are officials who go about organizing parades and hanging Mardi Gras decorations while doing nothing to meet the emergencies which threaten any day to engulf the people they serve. There are millions of people who are encouraged by developers and city planners to build homes and live in places where such disasters as this are sure to happen sooner or later. We have been warned, and we are all going to pay a high cost. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Hey All! After reading some of these posts ,I think I better take some time off from EA. It would seem there are a lot of God haters here and I better chill for awhile. Best Regards, Leona

That asshat calls himself "Brother Jed." He came to UK one day to scream at all of us godless college students back when I was there. I talked him to making a pretty serious contradiction pretty quickly when he claimed:

1) no man is without sin

2) he was without sin

...but when I pointed out that meant he couldn't be a man, he suddenly decided to start screaming about something else. He also called a friend of mine from Sri Lanka a "savage" because she had a traditional nose piercing, and according to him I must be a homo because I had long hair (yeah, so he was right, but not for the right reasons...).

His wife and daughter, incidentally, weren't allowed to ever cut their hair, had to wear these terribly uncomfortable clothing in bad shape, and were not allowed to speak until spoken to. I briefly talked to his daughter, who had the general demeanor of a seriously abused child (and believe me, had I seen bruises I'd have beat the shit out of him myself).

As for this:

philorchites (imported) wrote: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:51 am There is a lesson in the Southern Decadence thing that should be pointed out. New Orleans has poured its resources into promoting this kind of tourism. What if the money had gone into building higher levees and other flood control measures, or into better disaster planning and preparation?

At least so far as I've read, the problem wasn't that the city or state had not allocated proper funding, but that the feds kept yanking their federal funding and requiring the city and state to give so much to pay for the war. Most of the media have also been pointing out the traditional corruption in Louisiana politics, but have yet to point to an actual instance of somebody swiping money earmarked for the flood prevention efforts (but I don't take that to mean it didn't happen; I wouldn't expect that kind of thing to be obvious).

Added to that are all the resources that were and are lying around unused because the feds refused to allow them to be.

Dear Leona, Feel calm and happy that others speak "different" and about "God" in particular. There is no way You can hate "God" because he is in all of us, and all around us, so there You are. So enjoy our varied expression of our religion and translate into Your own and heart so You will feel good about all of it.

We are all somehow "brainwashed" to fear what we are not use so free Your self and enjoy all the kinds of expression about "God" and "religion" all the types.

Yours Johan-in-Washington N3RF@earthlink.net

The storm and its aftermath make me think theological about building infrastructure. Mayor Kip Holden of Baton Rouge has to deal with a city suddenly double in size. We already lacked sufficient infrastructure to deal with our citizens. We lack sufficient highways. We do have a substantial police presence, but we cannot run it at its limit for a long interval. I struggle to think about the proper purposes of government.

I heard this afternoon an executive from a major brokerage firm talk about our need to build infrastructure. He plainly laid part of the blame for the disaster in New Orleans on our failure to take care of basic engineering problems. To me this suggests a meta-perspective on the nature of engineering and economics. It intrigues me that engineering could and does have theological import.

The storm reveals racism, class and economic disparity, discrimination against old people, and many other elements that have long been real but unrevealed in our usual discourse.

Corruption can include attitudes. Think about just one little example. One of the judges in the traffic court where I worked paid more for a credenza for his office than any of the probation officers earned. Yet, I had to pay for much of the furniture that I used in my office. The judge was a good judge. He just saw no conflict with how the city spent money for his office and how poorly it paid the employess who served his court.

I watched the City of New Orleans squander over 40 million dollars on the badly conceived and corruptly managed 1984 World’s Fair. I watched the city squander money on a poorly trained and poorly paid police force that caused the city of forfeit millions of dollars in money paid in lawsuits for police abuse of citizens.

The city’s way to pay for a six million dollar judgment was to deduct 20 percent of the income of its employees for six weeks. By the way, the judge I mentioned above was able to reduce that deduction to two weeks for the employees who worked in his court.

That was a form of corruption. I have a report from an eyewitness whom I trust of one politican taking brides for contracts during the planning of the World's Fair.

The state and city built the Superdome (360 million dollars in the 70s) long before it put money into renovating its public schools.

All of you know about our state leaders who serve or served prison terms. One local television station treats that old gangster Edwin Edwards as if he were a victim of his own crime. [Of course, the feds did walk over his civil rights but that is another story.]

Interesting thread i have been on vacation for a few days and just seen this and as i christian i dont look at this as god taking his rath out on this city.Its true he knowes what is going on their good and bad just as he knowes my heart good and bad and if he was ready to kill people who didnt beleave in him or turned their back on him he would have see to it i was never brought on this earth in the first place.Yes i am a christian but i am no better then any one else i just know it and in the small person i am i try to change the things i dont like about myself that i know God isent happy with eather.I think its sad to that we call other people names and put them down just because we dont agree with the way WE beleave.As a christian i love my fellow man and some of my best friends are not christian and dont want to follow Gods laws or even care if he has any but i still love them and i do want everyone in here to know i care about EVERYONE the ones who beleave in God and the ones who dont.With that said i hope you wont judge me just because i am a christian i know i wont judge you my friends.

Dear all and old softee.

Will the evicted people of new Orleans or Louisiana etc receive some of the work-dollars to help rebuild the city with all those Millions coming in or will that go to "outsiders" .

Will the evicted people etc etc keep all the "property " rights , their homestead, the "house" and debree, their pets etc and have real; access to it again soon.?

Yes I wonder about the better purpose of government other than squander and steal or deny etc ://n3rf.triode.com and other examples I am sure exist to study

I keep wondering if we in an open society, the USA , can improve and improve repidly if the goal is set and new guidelines of interpreting out CONSTITUION is made. I think we can do it, but do we care enough to do it??/Regards N3RF