I find it so difficult to comprehend that a year later, this is still common place.
Why????
How can we help?
If anybody has some answers please enlighten the rest of us!!!!

Its still hard to believe after a year New Orleans its like this

This is just too pathetic to be in America.

I'm embarrassed! Why does it have to be this way? We sent aid to the people of indonesia within HOURS of the tsunami, let's think about that! It should not be this way in the USA

We watched the game last night. We (my hubby and I) were commenting that the city was able to get the dome all fixed up, but the majority of the people that still need the help can't even afford the tix to the game. I don't know what the financial situation is like in New Orleans, but it seems pretty pathetic to me to be able to spend millions of dollars to fix up a stadium that still only the "privledged" few can get into. I live in Indy and it is the same here, Colts tix are too expensive for the middle class and lower--but the city can spend tons of money (and increase taxes--which affects everybody) to pay for a new stadium that not everyone will be able to enjoy. Hope all that made sense....and now I am stepping down off of my soapbox.
Love ya'll--
indymom

Excellent point, Indymom. Very well worded.

Isn't that sad?? Probably left bodies buried under things while the big wigs built their precious money makin dome instead

This is HEARTBREAKING and I don't know how Johnny kept it together yesterday singing "Better Days" after seeing all of this. I know of the Habitat for Humanity, and National Trust for Historic Preservation foundations. They both have websites and will tell you how you may help! I'm a member of both groups. The monies are there to rebuild but the logistics is what is still holding up the progress there. There are zoning issues, municipal considerations about the infrastructure which need to be addressed and if any of you were ever on a committee of any kind, you know how red tape is, geez, just look at our government in action-it takes them 4ever to pass legistlation and what not. So do what you can to help and pray alot. Seriously!

Very good point Indymom.
I heard today some children still don't have schools to attend. And many hospitals still have not reopened.
What worries me most is if there will even be a middle class in the future!!!
It seems the gulf between the haves and the have nots is getting wider everyday!!!

I can agree to a certain point that the dome remodeling wasn't necessarily high priority compared to those that don't have a place to live. HOWEVER... New Orleans is a city that depends on tourism. That tourisim provides businesses that can now open, and because they are open, they can now hire people, and because they can now hire people, they can rebuild their homes. Please keep in mind that a lot of the devastation you're looking at yes, is horrible. Yet, these are personal items that can NOT be removed without the owners permission. They are trying to locate the people to the best of their ability, but if the city were to just throw these items away, you know SOMEONE would have huge issues with that. Yes, it needs to be cleaned up, I agree. Look how long it took NYC to clean up though and that was FAR less square footage compared to what was destroyed in New Orleans. (Hope I didn't offend anyone, I used to live there, so I feel an attachement to the city and those working VERY hard to right the wrong)

Oh my, this is so depressing. I agree with you 100% indymom. It's so ridiculous and pathetic that they'll spend what was it.....? 185 million dollars to fix up the stadium, but they don't spend the money FIRST on fixing their city??? It's so stupid that only some of the middle class can get into the stadium and the upper class can get in. What about the lower class? I'm not trying to be mean, but who do you think suffered the most? I wish I could go down there and do something, but I can't. I think about what happened in New Orleans almost every day and it still makes me very sad. So many people don't realized the devastation of the hurricane. The hurricane was just as devastating and just as sad as 9/11, but so many people don't realize that because the hurricane wasn't a group of terrorists. All of it just makes me mad. Ok, now I'm going off my soapbox.

holy shit!

that sucks!!!

I am more awake now - the words still escape me. I wonder how Tara is holding up going back through this. This shit makes me so angry and I don't want to get into the political bull here, but why is it that we can take care of every other effing country and we can't help our own people?? Makes you think doesn't it. It's painful still seeing the aftermath.

That's not even the half of it......I have family in LA. and I went there to see how they were, cause I didn't know how close they were to New orleans, but after finding them we went to New Orleans and looked around and tried to help as much as we could.....and it was just heart breaking....trust me...what you see in this picture is was the worst of it!!!!

babsil30--you make a good point too, about tourism as well as a lot of the things that need to be removed are personal property. Also, I guess a lot of people are still waiting on insurance coverage etc to pay. Also, there are probably quite a few who have relocated for good and aren't coming back, so the LA govt. can't find them to get their permission to remove their personal stuff. We can always still send money, bleach, and other items down there. That is what we can do to help. Keep donations coming to the Red Cross and other agencies. See ya'll later!
indymom

wow!!!!

Remember there are always valid reasons for everything that happens that we are all unaware of. We could never grasp the whole scope of desctruction the city of New Orleans has had to live with over the past year. As an individual, we could never fix what has happened or even begin to make it better. We can only do our small part, even if it's donating money to be used to help in the clean up. It took a long time to build New Orleans, it's going to take a long time to clean it up and get it back to the great city it was. The very best we can all do is pray that God will move those people who are in control to make the right decisions for the people of New Orleans. We can't be ashamed to be Americans. We live in the greatest country in the world. Do your part, vote in November, pray to our God and most of all, thank Him for what He has given all of us. God Bless you all. Barbie

Hey -- I see your points & all well spoken. I'm so glad "our guys" were there for this event -all I can say is what the commentators were saying on the pre-game show & hope that this is a start of things to come to fixing up the city & helping the people there. $185 million to fix up the dome or tear it down? Although,I know, that sounds
NUTS-$185mil & fix the Dome?, rather than concentrate on the people who need it 1st & foremost! But, they did put thought into this-because before I even saw these clips last night of them fixing it & some guys from the Saints talking, donating their time & others donating time & money-it made me think a little differently.
The presense of this event last night on the pre-game show spoke alot of asking people to continue to donate & help- flashing pictures of the damage & well most importantly"talking" about it-making this event a "reason to".
I agree that it's long overdue, but the points some of you guys made here were so true. Alot of people have been displaced & don't have the money to fix up what the hurricane destroyed. The insurance companies are dragging their feet & some are flat out telling these poor people -"it's just not covered, sorry". It's all really so sad.
Tickets that the lower & middle class people can't afford & that middleclass people are becoming extinct-yeah, I hear you & it's becoming more & more true each passing day...
That's what makes us all feel so strongly about what "our guys" did last night - they held a "free concert" so those who couldn't afford a ticket, could still come down & enjoy this event-the guys see & so do most of us.
You know,I keep having what John had said & what was carved on the trees in their video,"Better Days":
Have:Faith, Hope, Truth.
That's what we need to hold onto & to help. Even if it's a little -like a donation or doing whatever we can to help will go a long way.
Let our voices be heard, like liking a band that lends their voice out -& we can too- so stay on those soapboxes!
But, I'm real glad that at least something's being done-that www.musicrising.com & the red cross, etc..I sent 2 huge boxes that people from our co. brought in stuff & sent it down there, diapers & wet wipes, canned foods....
Something...whatever, if even a little, helps... but I hope & pray, like all of you.. it continues, that we stay pointed in a"better direction" -just a chanch that we'll find Better Days.

Since we're all on the soapbox, I just want to add a little bit more. I work for a small trucking company in Michigans UP...Our company spearheaded a campaign last year to get relieve supplies to the victims of Katrina. For weeks the good people of the UP donated supplies from water to clothing to tools and machinery to help in the clean up. We picked up freight from schools, businesses, banks, etc., all donated by people...individuals who made a difference. For weeks we hauled trailers to Mississippi. What you need to know is we are a local carrier, only deliver the midwest. But we had drivers willing to donate their time and time away from their families to do this. We did the same thing for 9/11. A company right here in Iron Mountain, Michigan painted a trailer for the specific use of hauling those supplies to Ground Zero. Two of our own drivers had the opportunity to drive that tractor trailer right down to Ground Zero. We have the most amazing and heart wrenching photos of these guys with the fire fighters who were taking part in the clean up. One of our drivers came back and did a newspaper article, said it was obviously a life changing experience. We have the article and pictures from their experience hanging in our lobby. I read it once in awhile and it still brings tears to my eyes. Where i'm going with this it twofold. One, we need to be so very thankful for what we have, for our loved ones, remember our lives can very well be turned around in a split second. I myself whined in a previous blog entry about having a shitty day, fought with my husband about a gallon of milk, got mad at my son for getting a bad grade. I have to reprimand myself for not being thankful that I have a son (actually 2 sons and 2 daughters) and a husband who loves me. And secondly, and again, we can all make a difference. It may not seem alot, that $20.00 you can afford to donate to the Red Cross, that pint of blood that we can give, that box of clothes that your kids grew out of, whatever. That one little thing will go towards making someone think they were just given a million dollars. I could go on, but I need to leave now, go watch my son, with his D- in Math, play football, then go watch my daughter play volleyball. Yeah, I will have put in a 15 hour day and won't walk in my door until about 9:30 tonight, but I will walk in my door to my messy house and be thankful that I have a roof over my head and my family there with me. I'm jumping off the soapbox now....next?

Well I don't have much to contribute to the soapbox idea, but all I can say this........ DAMN barbie54114! What you said was absolutely amazing. It's so appalling to see how people complain about a bad day and don't take the time to think about the fact that they are blessed. I am a complainer about bad days, definitely. I'm always complaining about what a bad time I'm having at school or about all the shit I go through with my mom, but I don't think about the fact that I actually have the chance to be getting an education and that I actually have a mom. That's our instincts though, to complain. When we have a bad day we always run to the people that will listen to us complain. I mean don't get me wrong, when my friends are having a hard time I still want to hear about it no matter what, but the majority of people don't take the time to count their blessings.
Now I'm sure NONE of what I just said made any sense, but it had a little bit of a point.

This is horrible, it's just so heart wrenching to see things like this. I think that it was good to rebuilad the Superdome, God knows how many people's lives were saved because of that one structure. I don't think that there are many people in New Orleans who would agree to having it torn down. For almost a year hundreds of families and children were kept alive because of it. There is not to mention the money that comes from the ticket sales, the announcers said that ALL of the season tickets have been sold, that alone will be able to do so much. Also the players like Reggie Bush, and Warrick Dunn for the Falcons, have been very involved, not to mention what all the great organizations and people like barbie54114 and her coworkers, and our very own GGD are doing what they can to help. Still it cannot be denied that there is so much more that needs to be done, and gooangela's right, the poor were hit the worst they had near nothing to begin with and trying to get them back on their feet will be extremely difficult. Nothing will ever be the same but at least the people of New Orleans have something to believe in, most feel betrayed by the government, some most likely by God, but maybe this team can help bring back some unity and a sense of pride that has been lost since Katrina, maybe ti will work or maybe it won't but it would be wrong not to give it a shot.

I couldn't agree with you more Barbie! There is a reason for everything and God knows what he's doing. I can also agree with Missy...it is a HUGE deal to some people...the dome was TONS of peoples refuge during times like these and I bet it's a great thing to those people that it was rebuilt.

Very sad...

As hard as it is to believe...the focus right now for the City of New Orleans is to generate money. Tourism and the Football Team...generate money. It's going to be a slow recovery but, there is forward movement even if it isn't at our pace. We are a instant gratification nation and we want everything okay...right now! Not in this case. Terigoo mentions two great organizations...get involved...make a contribution. Give of your time and of yourself. We grow in service to others. Give what you can. No donation is to small. You guys that have spoke your opinion are great...this has touched your hearts and you have spoken. Now lets act.
God Bless You All!

Barbie54114 and Terigoo...you gals are just lovely. All of the postings are great. To the Goo Goo Dolls for posting the photo and bringing some reality into our day...we all have so much more than we think. We have the love of our family & friends. We have Faith, Hope & Love. Peace and Joy to all of you!

:'(

Not that this picture is funny at all, but I love anna's comment because here the rest of us are, on our soapboxes, and she leaves comment like that! Thanks for the chuckle anna, that was awesome! (I hope no one took offense to anything I just said......)

Kanashii...

lol thanx angela i was just speachless lol surprise surprise! how yah been i havn't talked to yah in ages? hey by the way do u have a nick name or does evryone call yah angela ..thats my neices name but we call her ange or angie