Originally Posted by spider-man
I've walked through the 9th Ward many times. I ride in the 9th Ward frequently, at all times of day, "aloone" and with friends. There's a thriving bicycle culture there. My fiancee works there on a daily basis, rides her bike to work sometimes. Ever been there?
Suggesting those cities didn't have crime before people whose homes were destroyed evacuated to them is ridiculous. Would you have left people to fend for themselves in the flood that resulted from Army Corps of Engineers negligence? Only evacuated the rich people? You don't happen to work for FEMA, do you?
Here we go.
I lived in Belle Chase for 3 years. And it was not the Army Corps of Engineers at fault. It was your beloved Mark Morial (spelling, sorry), Ray Nagin and the other sellout politicians that wanted the Casino money instead of safety for ALL the citizen of NOLa. They diverted the money from the Feds into other special interests. The levies were only built to withstand a fast moving Category 3. Nothing more. Anything larger would mean a need for a total evacuation. Look to your joke of a mayor Mr. Nagin and the pitiful Mrs. Blanco. Louisiana had a great chance to turn around their economy with Bobby Jindal and they were afraid to vote for a Republican with immigrant parents from India. Instead the fine "people" stuck with the old guard and nothing changed. When you elect second best you get second rate performance.
I am a military weather forecaster by trade. Our office gave Hurricane presentations every year to groups and major businesses, and no one took us serious. Don't even try to say that only the rich were evacuated. Simply put, if you wait until it starts raining to think about evacuating from a Cat 4 hurricane then you are not the sharpest tool in the shed. The weather reports started to seriously name NOLa as a target 4 days prior.
An overwhelming percentage of the population lived of off welfare and drug money by choice. I don't feel sorry for those sponges of society. If you try to deny that then you are either blind or think the whole world is stupid. I do however feel sorry for the old people who were abandoned by their own families. You can't rely on government to do everything for you, but you should be able to count on family. I am absolutely sure there are fine people in that part of town, to bad they are overshadowed by the gutter rats.
I biked in NOLa the entire time I lived there, and never once new of a ride planned through the 9th. Actually, it was quite the opposite. In spite of the dislike I had for being shot at or mugged, I even purchased a bike on the east bank, at Bayou Bikes. (Excellent store)
No, I don't work for FEMA, but I don't rely on them for my safety during the first 96 hours of an emergency either. I never said that the cities I mentioned didn't have crime. I said that the crime increased drastically when the NoLa thugs arrived.
And as for "Duke" Cunningham, he got off way too light.
I look forward to your comments and hope at the end of it we can agree that NewOrleans could be a great city with a few changes.