Gumbo and Gasoline-- the gumbo part

I got the ways and means
To New Orleans I'm going
Down by the river
Where it's warm and green
I'm gonna have drink, and walk around
I got a lot to think about oh yeah

Concrete Blonde,
Bloodletting.

I'm drawn to this like a moth to flame. I've been trying to avoid it for over a week now but I guess it is time I tackle this as it seems itwon't leave me alone.

My mind keeps being drawn back to her. Back to the French Quarter and that one insane night I spent there with her. Has it really been nine years? I can't help but wonder if she was still there. Me? I was just passing through. To her, it was home. I can only hope she made it
out. Chances are though if she didn't get out shortly after I left her, I doubt she lasted this long. Nevertheless, Tammy, if you are out there, my thoughts are with you.

The tragedy is undeniable. The loss of life and property is just unimaginable. I remember the day My friend Josh's house burned down and seeing and understanding what it was to lose all of one's personal possessions. I remember when we had an unprecedented 17 inches of rain
in 24 hours and so many lost so much. We were "lucky" as we only had six inches or so in the basement. My friend Kevin's parents lost everything up to the second floor (including all of his sister's belongings which were in the basement). They had to leave in a boat. Funny thing about
flood damage is you can't get flood insurance unless you live in a flood plain. Until your property floods, it can't be considered a flood plain. A lot of hard working people lost everything. But I don't think anyone lost their lives.

I just can't imagine the enormity of the situation. I remember shortly after 9/11, I went to meet my buddy Mike at a tattoo convention in Chicago. I remember looking up at the Sears tower and thinking about the twin towers of the World Trade Center. My god, it is huge. It is impossible to process the two--the image of the twin towers going down with the reality of the Sears Tower. The two just don't go together easy--not in my head anyway. That is the sort of thing one shouldn't try to fit. I tried a few years ago--right about the time we started blowing
shit up in Iraq. I tried fitting that into my head, the Twin Towers, kicking the shit out of Iraq and other things, personal things. I almost made it fit but then just as I was about to succede, there was a sudden darkness with ghosts of black choppers and steamships and icebergs and
conch shells shattering like so much glass.

The things that kept me going and held the darkness were the things that surprised me. You see, I'm a Romantic Cynic. I suppose this might seem contradictory but let me explain. You know the example of optimist/pessimist of the glass half full/empty? Well, As a cynic, I
believe it doesn't matter because some idiot will most likely come by and break the glass before you get a chance to drink it. What makes things really confusing is that I am also a romantic. I believe that things could be-- should be better. I believe that a lot of things were better and have since gone to hell. If only we didn't have to take the bad with the good.

After 9/11 the romantic in me and the cynic had quite a conversation. The Romantic was overwhelmed with the outpouring of the human spirit-- of love. I remember seeing all of the people walking away for the carnage in New York. There was no black, white, yellow, red. All
were a pasty gray. And then red, white and blue.

The stories of heroism-- of the 343 firefighters, the police, the passengers and crew of Flight 93. They were all heroes. Each and every one. We all pulled together. For a brief moment we were one-- we wereall Americans-- even the French!

There were things the cynic was pointing at. There was, of course, the hijackers. The impossibly offensive idea that any God worth serving would think it a good thing to kill people. There was the fear that we might just turn the entire middle-east into a vast ocean of glass uninhabitable for God knows how long. Eventually we would go there and blow shit up and kill people but for a moment, the entire world held its breath. From Moscow to Beijing, from Scandinavia to South Africa, the world held its breath Some grieved for us-- with us, others looked nervously at there feet. There was a very few who burned our flag andcelebrated in the street but not many.

The world watched and wondered. They wanted to see what the world's most powerful country would do after being bloodied. I think most of them were generally surprised when we held hands and hugged each other and told each other that things would be all right-- that we could lean on each other. That tragedy brought us together as a Nation. Just like Pearl Harbor galvanized our parent's parent's generation to wake thissleeping giant.

We are a wonderful, beautiful, nearly magical people. Where else in the world do people so diverse live and get along at all? Hell, in Ireland we have Catholics and Protestants killing each other. In The middle-east we have Jews and Palestinians, in Iraq we have Shiites and Sunnis killing each other and Americans. The whole history of the human race is us versus them. Our country is unique in that we are not all black or white or red-haired, red-skinned, blonde-haired-blue-eyed, we are all different-- from every part of the world. My Grandmother was Irish, my grandfather German. We are all immigrants, (well, except the Native Americans who really got the shit-end of the stick!) I wish we could go back to the way they lived and respected the land but I fearthere are way too many of us for that now.

We didn't loot after 9/11. We didn't horde or make a run on the banks or anything else "unseemly" We had a point to focus our anger and it was a righteous anger. Maybe not the wrath of God but rather thereckoning of man.

We had a purpose and we all gave whatever we could. Some gave blood. Some gave money, food. Others gave of themselves. Thousands move into New York to help in any why they could. We held hands and we sang and we lit candles. We prayed to whatever Gods we are close to. We sang and celebrated the lives of the heroes. There was fear, panics when white powders showed up in envelopes. We were a bit jumpy-- hell, we still arefor that matter.

Some of us worried that this would be the necessary excuse to erode our freedom-- the precise thing our enemies hate so much. We worried if they were winning by us giving in-- giving ground. We came up with ways to protect ourselves. We developed new tools like the Department of Homeland Security. Some still worry that maybe we gave up a bit too much freedom in the wake of the attacks. Most I guess just accept it as thenatural consequence of being packed so tightly.

I was impressed. I was proud of my country and my countrymen. I was glad we had strong leaders-- even if I didn't vote for them. I saw true leadership in the wake of the terrorist attacks. I saw Mayor Giuliani stand up and do what leaders are supposed to do in times of chrisis. they are supposed to lead and comfort. Giuliani reminded me of the speeches of Churchill during the battle of Britain. I was proud to be a part of this. I was proud to be an American.

While 9/11 shows us our strengths, New Orleans shows our weakness. I have been completely and utterly disgusted over and over again in the past few years with the press. Between sensationalist inept over-coverage, completely missing the real story, failing to follow up on the real story, running from one circus to another quite often. When I was in college, I embraced the ideals of the Fourth Estate and I thought for a time that I would make my mark-- my contribution-- by becoming a reporter. That was before O.J.

Me and my friend Josh were supposed to be heading to another friend's house but I kept getting the "in a minute" thing. When I finally came in the house to see what was taking so long, I found Josh sitting in front of the TV with some other friends. They were looking at video footage of a white Bronco sitting in the driveway of what looked like a very nice house. I asked Josh what
was going on, he said it was O.J.

I didn't know which was worse, that the press would broadcast live footage of a white bronco doing absolutely nothing for four hours or that my friends would actually watch it. I became so disgusted that Iliterally did not watch TV again for nearly four years.

The press has become vultures swooping in to show the death and destruction. Tonight, CNN ran a story about how they sued to be able to show us dead bodies. CNN was bitching that, even though a judge decided they could take pictures of the corpses being picked up-- even though
they could legally do it, the National guard moved vehicles to block the camera's view.

They sued to be able to show us corpses. Not sure about you but I don't want to see any corpses-- especially ones that have been sitting in shit-water for two weeks. Bad enough people have to pick 'em up. Not sure about you but I'm a bit uncomfortable with the thought of everybody seeing my fat bloated corpse on national television. And I sure as shitdon't want to see somebody I love like that!

Don't get me wrong, I have seen a few members of the press that seem to be doing their job and doing it well. Shepard Smith comes to mind. Geraldo is close but, being from near Chicago, I have a hard time taking him seriously. I'm sure there are others out there but the game is such
that the press are so worried about scooping and sensationalizing, that they don't seem all that worried about the truth.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Early on the press was reporting that people were shooting first-responders to steal their boats. After hearing this reported either on Fox or CNN, there isnothing about it to be found anywhere.

The press deserves a big kick in the crotch. But another group of jackasses needs a kick also. The politicians. It comes as no surprise to me-- remember I'm a cynic-- that the politicians are scrambling to try to divert blame. All of the politicians involved in this thing need to be quietly taken out and shot. Since we can't to that, hopefully we will remember what happened and will vote accordingly. At least Bush had the balls to make the Nixon-patented passive-voice half-assed apology. Guess it is too much to expect any politician to say, Yep, I fucked up. Itisn't all my fuck-up but some of it is mine.

The real tragedy is we didn't have a Giuliani to stand up and say shit was going to get fixed. This really is the only thing we need a leader for. We don't need a leader to scream at the mayor or the Guv'ner-- we can do that ourselves. What we need is somebody who can take charge and at least make you think they have things under control.

When you look around and realize the people who are supposed to be in charge don't have a clue what they are doing, the urge to go off and fend for onesself becomes more of a survival instinct than a simple idea. Given the lack of leadership, we should be amazed that any of the police stuck around-- that was heroic nearly to the point of stupidity. Those that took off? Well, can't we simply say they were human andforget about them for now?

Today, on the news the LA State's Attorney announced he was charging the owners of the St. Rita nursing home with negligent homicide for leaving 34 patients to fend for themselves. The authorities claim they offered to send busses (perhaps to bring 'em to the Superdome?) to
evacuate the patients the day before the storm and the owners refused. If convicted they could be sentenced to a maximum of 170 years for their transgressions.

Sure, I guess they deserve to be punished. I mean, assuming losing everything and living with the knowledge they were responsible for the deaths of 34 people in their care isn't a punishment. They said they notified the relatives and told them they were not evacuating but theywere welcome to come and get their loved ones.

Seems to me we are holding these people to a much higher standard than anybody else of any level of authority. Could not the same basic argument be made to bring charges against the Mayor, the Governor,perhaps even the president himself?

Bring your lawyer
And I'll bring mine
Get together, and we could have
a bad time

George Harrison,
Sue me Sue you blues

I live in the Midwest. We get a bit of snow up here. For those of you unfamiliar. Snow is this pretty white stuff that covers everything. Sometimes it melts and turns into water. Sometimes it melts and re-freezes and becomes ice. It is wonderful to look at but it makes driving and even walking hazardous. There were stories that went around when I was a kid. They might have been urban legends but they might have at least been based in truth. The story was always that a FOAF (friend of a friend) had just finished shoveling the sidewalk when a neighbor lady walked down the sidewalk The lady fell and broke her hip. After the lady recovered from
the broken hip, she got a lawyer and sued the homeowner. The court decided that if the man had not shoveled the snow would have been an act of God and therefore not the homeowner's fault but since he shoveled, it became his responsibility since it was no longer natural.

Maybe the story was bullshit. Maybe someone made it up. Most of us have heard of the lady who sued McDonalds because her coffee was too hot. We have all heard of the frivolous lawsuit. We have all been warned that if we come across someone who is injured we should not touch them or move them unless they are in imminent danger. I have heard of a person getting sued for braking someone's ribs while giving them CPR-- did save their life.

Whether real or imagined, the fear of litigation is huge. Any time there is a disaster of any magnitude, the first thing to do seems to be to call your lawyer.

I heard somewhere over the past few weeks that the Mayor of New Orleans was worried because the Hotels threatened to sue him if he called a mandatory evacuation and it turned out to be a false alarm. I have not been able to find anything to support this claim. I have not been able to find any evidence that any hotel anywhere has ever sued local authorities for declaring a emergency. Whether this is true or had any bearing on the situation will most likely remain a mystery. The mayor did, however, say that the reason he didn't use the busses to evacuate was because he didn't have any drivers. Desperate times call for desperate measures but you can't help but wonder if he got a bunch of people to volunteer to drive the busses and somebody wrecked one of 'em full of people, gotta wonder if the big story is the amazing rescueor the irresponsible mayor.

A few years ago, there was a fire in a skyscraper in Chicago in an old county building. Literally, before the smoke had cleared, accusations were flying and everybody was trying to implicate someone else and also trying to dodge their own guilt. Hell, even with the 9/11 thing, we got some of that. That is why the government gave an average of on million dollars to the victims families. This was in exchange foran agreement they would not sue anybody.

Don't get me wrong, we do need to look back at things to see what we did right and what we did wrong but it seems more often than not, we only look far enough to pin the blame on someone or something. We give the litigants a target. And then we step back and congratulate ourselves
for dodging a bullet.

We need to be able to blame somebody or something. We need it in much the same way we need stupid people. We are like children walking though a minefield. We need to be able to say, "see, see that is precisely where they went wrong. As long as we don't step on that spot right there we will be fine." We congratulate ourselves for being smarter than the poor bastard that just got blown to hell and we continue on until the next one bites the dust. It is the only way we cancope.

So we find somebody to blame. We find a scapegoat-- a sacrificial lamb and we hang it on them. We have to because if we don't, we will look around and see that we are in the middle of a minefield with no safe way out. We carry on because surely this tragedy cannot happen again as we have fixed the problem and fixed the blame.

The real problem-- the real blame goes to the damn French. It was their brilliant idea to build the city in the first place. Tom Jefferson shares in the blame since he bought it from the French. Hell, Jacksonfought the Limeys off so we can blame him too.

Seriously though, The City of New Orleans should not exist on such a scale-- not where it is. The simple truth of the matter might be nobody did anything about it because nothing could be done. There is something like a million people living in or near New Orleans. There are ssentially three main pathways in and out. We all now know that over 100,000 of it's citizens didn't have transportation. Think about this. Suppose you want to get a million people out of New Orleans, 100k of them without transportation. Where in the hell are you going to put them? It isn't like you can call up Texas and make reservations for a half-million rooms.
Here's the thing, If you tell people to get the hell out and they don't go, then it is their fault for not leaving. Well, except for those that don't have cars but still, you can blame them too because it isn't like anybody has tried to keep the fact New Orleans is below the waterline a secret. But if you decide you are going to load up everybody on busses and just head off to Woodstock, you are in the wrong generation. You fill those busses with people and then get some drivers,
they are now your problem. Not that they weren't your problem before but it is kinda like shoveling the sidewalk. You participated and now you are stuck.

Suppose you do? Suppose you manage to get a bunch of busses and get them ready to move out, how many people are actually going to take that trip. I've asked myself the same question since this happened. If I were told to evacuate my home, would I? Would I leave my home and head to parts unknown with a million other people to go and find sheltersomewhere else?

Hard to answer. I live in the Midwest for a lot of starting with I was born here. Sometimes I hate winter. I hate snow. Try pushing a wheelchair across a frozen parking lot and you will begin to understand why. Sometimes I think I would like to live somewhere where it is warm year round. I've thought about it and I've ruled out the West Coast because of the earthquake hazard and I've ruled out the North Carolina-to-Texas area because of the hurricanes. Arizona and New Mexico seem too hot. So I'm stuck here with the occasional blizzard and tornado. You don't evacuate for blizzards and tornadoes. For blizzards you watch the pretty white stuff and if it gets really crazy you shovel your roof (we haven't had to do that since '70). For Tornadoes, you hide inthe basement for a bit.

I think the real thing we are all pissed off about is having to look through the thin veneer we call civilization. We fancy ourselves beyond all that. We have the Internet. We have satellite communications we have huge ships and helicopters and all these wonderful toys. We like to see
ourselves as enlightened and educated. We like to think we are above the tribal barbarism we see in the third world.

We think we are in control. We are masters of our world. We are an enlightened beacon unto the world-- we lead the way. But when the water flows over the levy and we get a glimpse of what might happen, we get pissed. Instead of getting pissed at ourselves-- for really it is our own arrogance that has caused this-- we find scapegoats. We blame Mayors and Governors and Presidents and nursing home owners and we congratulate ourselves for finding the culprits and then? Then we blissfully ignorethe basic, intrinsic cause of the problem in the first place.

So we continue. We rebuild a city that should not have existed in the first place. We rebuild the levies to beat the last storm. We ignore the subsidence-- the sinking of the city. We ignore the continual destruction of the wetlands which used to protect the city-- which leave the city more and more vulnerable over the years. As the wetlands disappear, as the delta disappears and as global warming continues to raise the ocean level on the sinking city. The population continues to grow It will be relatively safe for a while. It is not likely that this generation will forget or begin to think it couldn't happen again. For a while mandatory evacuations will actually see people heading for shelter but after a few false alarms. After a few mad-dashes out of the city
only to find there are no rooms available, people will get tired of that crap and will begin to gamble. Maybe fifty or sixty years from now another big one will hit. Maybe by then the population of the New Orleans area will be home for 2 million people?

Not sure what will happen but I know one thing for sure, When it happens again, the ones who lose the most will be the ones who don't have anything. They will be the ones that can't afford to evacuate. They will be the ones who don't have insurance because they can't afford it.
What little they have will be washed away. They will be the ones that pay with their lives. And once again we will be trying to figure out whose fault it is. Next time the answer will be simple. It will be our fault.

One last thing before I go. There were a lot of smart people warning us what would happen in New Orleans but nobody listened. We should listen now. We should listen to what they have to say about the Mississippi delta but we need NEED NEED NEED to listen to what they are telling us about oil and the environment and do something about it before it is too late. If we let that go, there will be nothing left to blame.

Run, run, run, run
You better make your face up in
Your favorite disguise
With your button down lips and your
Roller blind eyes
With your empty smile
And your hungry heart
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past
With your nerves in tatters
When the conch shell shatters
And the hammers batter
Down the door
You better run

Pink Floyd,
Run Like Hell