CREDIT: Copied and pasted from the Crime and Safety Board at NOLA.com
Here's something thought provokingby cajunMan2006, 4/27/06 20:02 ET
"The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
a.. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
b.. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
c.. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
d.. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
e.. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans - It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division ............
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans.
Interesting number, what does it mean?
Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516, 528.
Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787
Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D.C. !!!...........................Are all your calculators broken????
Maybe everyone should just flood their houses, then we can all be on the "big easy" street for the rest of our lives, and forget about working, and paying taxes and all that useless stuff!"
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Kalypso's video ~
This is such a neat video, made by 10 y/o "Kalypso" - it's about 12 minutes long and really worth seeing. Thanks to Humid City for airing and sharing it!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Dear family at 3308 Shannon
"We volunteered our spring break to help the victims of this destruction. We are sorry for the things you lost. May God bless you as you embark on the journey of rebuilding your lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with you."
Signed by 10 students from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio - who had not only cleaned out the house, but also managed to set aside some precious things: a pair of baby shoes, child-made Christmas ornaments, and the owner's diary from 1975.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(Excerpts from Sheila Stroups column, Times Picayune, Tuesday, April 4, 2006)
Signed by 10 students from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio - who had not only cleaned out the house, but also managed to set aside some precious things: a pair of baby shoes, child-made Christmas ornaments, and the owner's diary from 1975.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(Excerpts from Sheila Stroups column, Times Picayune, Tuesday, April 4, 2006)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
A bold idea
I giggle nervously every time I see this picture. It's Popular Science's vision for homes that would be constructed in New Orleans to rise with the tidal surge of a hurricane. Read the article here.
The creepiest thing about this picture is the glow of light pouring from every window like a Thomas Kincade painting, only I bet the folks indoors aren't as cozy as they'd be in one of his fantasy cottages.
I was not here for the storm - so I can't imagine what it was like, though I often dream it is as depicted above ~ minus the festively well-lit dwelling. I often wonder what it must have been like to cling to a slippery, slanting roof, holding tightly to your children and elderly, during a storm like that - debris flying all about, water rapidly rising.
We heard of 911 calls from folks trapped in attics, or worse in eaves when they had no attics. The holes where some hacked and clawed their way out are still there to witness, along with the SOS-type distress signals painted on roofs. In many places, the water rose above them . . . or washed their homes away.
It's a neat article - that Popular Science has some interesting ideas. But the picture is oddly disturbing for so many reasons.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Kindness is COOL
I took a drive instead of going to lunch yesterday. I had some things on my mind, and needed to get out of the office more than anything. I found myself in the still-obscenely-damaged-and-destroyed Ninth Ward. It's been seven months.
It's funny what hits you.
What got me yesterday was seeing a spray-painted door that read "SPCA Dog Food Drop". See, where they'd find pockets of animals, they'd regularly leave food and water for them. All of a sudden I was caught up in that moment. People first and all that -- but how suddenly overwhelmed I was at the thought that strangers came here and cared for the animals. After all - I had never even considered that so many animals would be lost and abandoned and in need. Who thinks of these sorts of things?
I felt similarly struck by this story (MSN):
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - This is a story about a pink dress and how it kept one high school prom in Ocean Springs, Miss., from becoming another casualty of Katrina.
“Prom is a glorious time in a young person's life,” says Sue McDavid, “And when I thought they were going to miss that I just couldn't stand it.”
Last fall, in Oklahoma City, McDavid heard from one her former classmates living in Ocean Springs that there might be no prom this year because many of the girls’ families couldn't afford dresses.
For McDavid, it was a call to action to get 250 dresses.
“Lots of service organizations were feeding the necessities of the life,” McDavid says. “I wanted to feed the necessities of the soul.”
For those who have lost so much, a prom dress isn't high on anyone's priority list. So McDavid thought maybe she could buy the dresses or even sew them. Then she called her local newspaper. Five days after the story ran, she had 250 prom dresses and that was just the start. More than 700 dresses came from donors in four states, taking over McDavid’s home.
“Every inch I could think of — I can't even find my vacuum cleaner — covered with dresses,” McDavid says.
In January, she packed them up and drove 800 miles to St. Martin High in Ocean Springs, where the girls went on the ultimate shopping spree. Many pulled the pink one from the rack. Some tried it on. Amber Yarbrough took it home.
Last Saturday, as she got ready for the big night, Amber couldn't help but think of all that's gone, including the home she grew up in.
“I never lived anywhere else,” Yarbrough says. “Then, all in one day, you just lose it all.”
But Amber didn't lose her dream of going to the prom.
“I feel pretty,” Yarbrough said, modeling her pink gown. “I feel like a princess.”
She's a princess thanks to a fairy godmother who discovered what a difference one person can make.
“There's always things that we can do,” McDavid says. “If you just are given the opportunity to act on them, then you should.”
It's funny what hits you.
What got me yesterday was seeing a spray-painted door that read "SPCA Dog Food Drop". See, where they'd find pockets of animals, they'd regularly leave food and water for them. All of a sudden I was caught up in that moment. People first and all that -- but how suddenly overwhelmed I was at the thought that strangers came here and cared for the animals. After all - I had never even considered that so many animals would be lost and abandoned and in need. Who thinks of these sorts of things?
I felt similarly struck by this story (MSN):
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. - This is a story about a pink dress and how it kept one high school prom in Ocean Springs, Miss., from becoming another casualty of Katrina.
“Prom is a glorious time in a young person's life,” says Sue McDavid, “And when I thought they were going to miss that I just couldn't stand it.”
Last fall, in Oklahoma City, McDavid heard from one her former classmates living in Ocean Springs that there might be no prom this year because many of the girls’ families couldn't afford dresses.
For McDavid, it was a call to action to get 250 dresses.
“Lots of service organizations were feeding the necessities of the life,” McDavid says. “I wanted to feed the necessities of the soul.”
For those who have lost so much, a prom dress isn't high on anyone's priority list. So McDavid thought maybe she could buy the dresses or even sew them. Then she called her local newspaper. Five days after the story ran, she had 250 prom dresses and that was just the start. More than 700 dresses came from donors in four states, taking over McDavid’s home.
“Every inch I could think of — I can't even find my vacuum cleaner — covered with dresses,” McDavid says.
In January, she packed them up and drove 800 miles to St. Martin High in Ocean Springs, where the girls went on the ultimate shopping spree. Many pulled the pink one from the rack. Some tried it on. Amber Yarbrough took it home.
Last Saturday, as she got ready for the big night, Amber couldn't help but think of all that's gone, including the home she grew up in.
“I never lived anywhere else,” Yarbrough says. “Then, all in one day, you just lose it all.”
But Amber didn't lose her dream of going to the prom.
“I feel pretty,” Yarbrough said, modeling her pink gown. “I feel like a princess.”
She's a princess thanks to a fairy godmother who discovered what a difference one person can make.
“There's always things that we can do,” McDavid says. “If you just are given the opportunity to act on them, then you should.”
Speaking of kindness - THANK YOU KRISTEN (Striving to be Erma) ~ YOU are the best. Love ya.
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