Express your thoughts for the people and city of New Orleans and all cites harmed by the disaster.

Keep it positive please. Start a P&R thread if you wish, this is for the people. Thanks.

Was there this past winter - I still for the people

the area is wounded - so sad

I was listening to Tom Joyner this morning and a valid point was raised: where is all the money from the telethons and the money that Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton raised to help people?

2 years later and my heart still aches for those people.

as I posted for my homies in the lyrics thread, I wish for them to rise up and rebuild...that they maintain their spirit, the spirit of a truly unique place on this earth....it is shameful that things are the way they are, but the people who are doing all they can to rebuild and the folks from out of town who are helping are more important than any amount of money....

so from this ex-pat New Orleanian to my family, friends, neighbors, and fellow New Orleanians.....a toast to your continued strength in the face of such a daunting task....if I were able, I'd be there with you.....

Mach said:

A good description. We simply lack the ability to heal the wound.

We are a resilient bunch, we may get knocked around, fed a bunch of bullshit and talked about like river rats but that's okay. Because we may be down but we're never out...we'll get it done even if we have to do it ourselves.

My co-work lived through Katrina.

It was a time when the cover was lifted off of America's poor. We still haven't learned the lesson but God bless those that survived and are trying to put their lives back on track.

It's just horrible that things are still in such bad shape. Where does all the money go? Same thing happened when the tsumani hit, there were millions donated, but I don't think those effected saw much of that money either.

My church had a missions trip to Pas Chritian (sp?) the last two yrs over spring break and when they came back this year they told this beautiful HEart Wreching story.

The first yr there, obviously was chaos. Well there was this woman who owned a shrimp place. Like a resturaunt with all shrimp stuff (we don't have anything like that here, I don't know if thats common or what it'd be called). So anyway, ofcourse there was nothing left of it. Basically all my church did was build this pavilion for her to seel her stuff under. That was all they could do yanno. I mean it was only a week and what not.

So anyways, when they went down this year they wanted so badly to go see this poor woman but they had so much other work to da, yada yada. Well on the last day when leaving, they're bus went to her place just to stop in, and they said it was rebuilt and the parking lot was PACKED!

They went in and the lady recognized them and started to cry she was SO busy she couldn't even talk. She kept saying just wait five minutes we'll have lunch I'm so grateful yada yada, but they really had to get on the road.

So they left, but I mean, its just so miraculous that her business is now booming again.

I love hearing these stories.

I had to take a military class at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS, a very hard hit area from Katrina. I was to have gone to class in November 2005, but had to postpone it until March-April 2006.

Here is a picture page of some of the devestation taken on March 11, 2006, just about six months after Katrina. A lot of the images you will see have either been razed (Windjammers, Treasure Bay) and the Bay Back ofBiloxi Rt. 90 bridge to Oecean Springs is being rebuilt.

I have more but just never added them the list. Maybe I should. It was quite an interesting drive into New Orleans, twice, during my stay in Biloxi.

Here's a taste of what the Rt. 90 Beach Drive bridge between Biloxi and Ocean springs looked like.

I would like to express my frustration, resentment and anger at those who say that New Orleanians shouldn't be entitled to a home. So many people want to blame the residents for their situation because they "chose" to live in an area that was known to be prone to disaster. WE ALL LIVE IN PLACES LIKE THAT!. In California you have earthquakes, in the midwest you have intense storms and tornados, you have places of the country that flood, places that are prone to burn in fires, places where hurricanes hit on a yearly basis, places where you have crazy blizzards.

The residents of New Orleans call that place home just like the rest of us for many of the same reasons. That is where there were born and raised. It is unfair to ask that they be singled out for mantras of "personal responsibility". This country does not come down on survivors of tornadoes like that. We don't come down on survivors of earthquakes like that. Those people are entitled to call that place home and we are obligated to see that the rich heritage and culture that came from New Orleans continues to enrich this nation.....

For the people lost and the people who are still dealing with the sadness and pain