I’ve Seen

The things I’ve seen today.. in one 24 hour period. Can’t quite form the words yet. Use this for now.

Greetings from the Lost City of NOLA

Just arrived. Circled the town via automobile. Checked into chez lil’Robin who is just a fantastic person. She’s probably reading this too.. so I’ll withhold all other compliments.

Lots of meetings set up for tomorrow with some interesting projects. NOLA bloggers have not been the most responsive bunch, but I still hope to get some of the great personal publishers of this town to sit town and tell me what has happened and how.

For now this is just a hello to let y’all know, the crusading podcasting journalist has arrived and its amazing to see a city you’ve read, heard, and seen so much about.

Oh and there is a pressing issue that demands some immediate attention and I think EU sanctions.. and that is the Polish government’s rabid homophobia and their desire to erase any references to LGBT issues or history in their education system. Any mention of gay is apparently to be banned as well. (?)

As a very concerned citizen of the EU I think the government should have sanctions put on it and perhaps they should be brought before the EU court of justice for discrimination and violating the fundamental human rights they agree to respect by being part of the EU.

But ok, right now its hard to focus on that.. cause I’m in the Big EASY!

Planning and Packing

Podcast guests and topics are illusive this week, so far. At a dinner party this evening from across the room I hear “BM… this guy is from New Orleans!”

I jump up and have a seat next to him. A musician through and through who studied in New Orleans, as it turns out. After talking to him about my project and the issues I want to focus on, I was honored to hear him say “Well I’m glad you’re going. Its important that you go and do this.” He also spoke about how much it hurts him, reading and watching what is happening to his city from over here.

Anyway I leave you today and urge you to read This is Zimbabwe where another horror is still going on.. the ongoing horror that the whole world tries not to look at. (hell even me, somehow I don’t blog enough about the injustice there)

A Road Trip to Watch

Dillip just called me. He noticed my comments regarding his fantastic journeys through the south of the United States. Virginia..TEnnessee Mississippi.. Louisiana.. I can’t remember all the names. But I’ll not forget the words I read as he puts them up on his blog.

He called and told me he had heard I was coming to New Orleans as well. Which indeed.. the plan is in the works and It will happen. He told me he had gone down to the Bayou to visit fishing towns.. to see how people there were coping. As you can imagine.. some are coping.. many are not.

I mentioned the FEMA trailers… he said “I wish I had spoken to you before about this, I had to use the bathroom on one of those trailers yesterday.” Fortunately I think his health is fine. Beyond that.. his trip is just more inspiration for my own journey to see and report to you what is going on and why. Imagine that… a guy visting from India and a guy visiting from the Netherlands, I can only imagine all the other crazies like us wandering around trying to understand it all.

Ooh.. and today I read another interesting tale from NOLA. This time it involves musicians and the building of a new community in the 9th ward.. built for and by the musicians. NICE.

bm187 Poisoned and Forgotten, Katrina Survivers 2007

Some people might imagine that a year and a half after Katrina, life for many survivors might be improving as the rebuilding process progressed. But what if the rebuilding process was not progressing? More than that, imagine hundreds of thousands of people still living in FEMA trailers that are actually poisioning them? While the mainstream press turns its corporate back, an unbelievable crime is taking place along the gulf coast… again. In this program, with the help of people working for the recovery effort, we lay out the agonizing facts.

Guests:

Becky Gillette, Co-Executive Committee Chair – Mississippi Chapter Sierra Club
Ashley Tsongas, Oxfam America

We discuss:
– FEMA Trailers and the toxicity levels
– Health problems being reported and underreported
– FEMA’s response
– The Trailer Companies and the building of the trailers
– Options for trailer residents
– Next steps for Sierra Club and Katrina
– The delays of the rebuilding process
– Causes and those responsible
– The poor and housing in the NOLA area
– Lack of coverage of the issue
plus much more, so please listen.

Nation Article on this topic

 

NOLA Pain Continues

I’m pondering a trip to the US in the coming 6 months. Hoping money and the moons all align so that I might be able to go over for a bit longer than the usual 2 weeks.

One place I hope to be able to get to somehow is New Orleans. I know it was probably media cliché.. but it has also become an under-reported and poorly reported subject. What happenned to that city is not a tragedy, but in fact, one of the biggest crimes of the century. Actually two crimes, as the government and business leaders have pretended not to know anything about climate change and the dangers it involves. And yet no one in charge was arrested, and hardly anyone resigned. More criminals and mass murderers at large in Washington DC.

How much reporting are the toxic trailers getting? Over 200 thousand people living in FEMA trailers that are known to have high levels of toxicity and cause all manner of resperatory diseases to so many.

Following the recent terrible tornados that hit the city, I went over to NOLA dot com, to see what people are talking about in the forums. I happenned to click on Gentilly forum, and there i read a sad, tragic, and almost poetic proclamation by a resident by the name of LowDownLou:

New Orleans has had more destruction due to weather since Katrina than it has had within the last 10 years before Katrina. How many Tornadoes have actually hit New Orleans in the last 20 years pre-K?

You all remember that song: If It Aint One Thing Its Another?

Astronomical Insurance rates—–

Crime is totally outta place——

People lookn for a place to stay——

March on City Hall searchn 4 a betta Way—–

Called my local congressman beggn 4 relief—–

But my local congressman was only a Thief—–

It’s a Shame 2 C the Cresent City in such waste—-

We need to get on our Knee’s and beg 4 a betta DAY……

PEACE Out…….