I HAVE INTERNET! I HAVE INTERNET!

Miracles never cease to happen here. Today, I finally got around to plugging in my modem and wireless router. I couldn't believe my eyes when the lights started lighting up one by one. I quickly ran to my computer to see if it was true and my eyes weren't deceiving me. I HAVE INTERNET!!!! We were told that we wouldn't have internet for months.

I'm back, baby!!!

Goodbye, for now

I am heading back to the land of no internet, so I will not be posting for a while. Of course, I haven't been posting too much lately, but it is hard to blog when staying in someone else's home. Thank you all for all of the support, thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming. Even after the news moves on to something else, we will still be struggling to put back together some semblance of a normal life.

As soon as I get access to the internet, I will update you and maybe be able to share my thoughts and opinions again.

Thank you all again and I hope I can rejoin the blogosphere soon.

Dana

WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!

I just can't believe the audacity of some people. If I had any doubt before about the idiocy of Cindy Sheehan, she has just erased it from my mind. The woman needs serious help - maybe even an invitation to rejoin (as if she has ever been a part of it in the first place) the thinking world. I am so mad I could spit nails. In her simple, petty, imbile mind, she decided to take her little pity party to my backyard. She thinks (ok, bad choice of words) she can help.

I got to Camp Casey III in Covington, La today, after getting up at 3am to head for the airport. Now it is 3am the next day and we are driving in a car to try and find a hotel to sleep anywhere around Jackson, Miss. I was prepared to be shocked by what I saw in Louisiana, but I guess one can never really fully prepare for such devastation and tragedy. After living in a country your entire life it is so difficult to see such callous indifference on an immense scale. When I reflect on how the mother of the imbecile who is running our country said that the people who are in the Astrodome are happy to be there, it angers me beyond comparison. The people in LA who were displaced have nice, if modest homes that are perfectly fine. I wonder why the government made them leave at great expense and uproot families who have been living in their communities for generations.

I think that I speak for all of St. Tammany Parish (where Covington is located), WE DON'T WANT YOU THERE, CINDY. YOU ARE NOT PART OF OUR SOLUTION. WE HAVE ENOUGH TOXIC WASTE IN THE WATER AND AIR ALREADY! WE DON'T NEED YOU TO ADD TO IT WITH YOUR NEGATIVITY. DON'T USE OUR DOWNED TREES, FLOODED HOUSES AND BACKS OF HOMELESS FAMILIES AS BUILDING MATERIALS FOR YOUR POLITICAL SOAPBOX!

Now, as far as Barbara Bush saying that the evacuees were happy in the Astrodome, I would have to agree. Compared to the hellhole that was the Superdome and the Convention Center, I would even dare to say that they were ecstatic about running water, electricity, food, air conditioning, and safety.
Also, she says that people were forced to leave their homes even though they were "perfectly fine." The only people who were literally forced to leave their "perfectly fine" homes were in New Orleans. It was either that or leave them to face possible death! The rest of the people in the area were forced to leave their homes because they WERE NOT PERFECTLY FINE! Did she at all open her eyes to see reality or did she continue living in Cindy's World of distortion and conspiracy theories.

After we arrived at Camp Casey III, we took the Veterans for Peace "Impeachment Tour Bus" into New Orleans after stopping at the distribution center to pick up some supplies in Covington.

So, Cindy, already adding to our problems by using our supplies for your own personal gain. How appropriate.

The VFP took me to the city of Algiers on the West Bank. The part of Algiers we went to was very poor and black. The people of Algiers know what hard work is.

Algiers is NOT all poor or black, Cindy. Houses there go for over $200,000. There is a mix of black and white living in this city that was seeing a revitilization trend.

Algiers had no flooding. All of the damage was from winds. There are trees knocked over and shingles off of roofs. There are signs blown over and there was a dead body lying on the ground for 2 weeks before someone finally came to get it. (Cindy, did you hear about the rescue effort being made? People were trying to get to those still alive. A dead person is still dead if he is picked up today or a week from now, but living, breathing human beings need to be rescued now). Even though Algiers came through Katrina relatively unscathed, our federal government tried to force (mostly successfully) the people out of the community (because living conditions were horrible and likely to get worse). Malik Rahim, a new friend of ours and resident of Algiers, told us stories of the days after the hurricane. The government declared martial law, but there was no effective police presence to enforce it (yes, because the people that you seem to always side with - the thugs and enemies of law and order- were killing anyone with a uniform. Martial law had to be declared because it was the only way to begin to get a handle on the situation. You have no idea how horrible it was before it was declared.). Malik said the lawlessness was rampant. People were running out of food and water and they were being forced to go to the Superdome. They didn't want to go to the Superdome, because their homes were pretty intact: they wanted to stay and have food and water brought to them (There was a shortage of man power. You cannot possibly expect the rescuers to bring food and water to these people daily. THEY WERE RESCUERS, NOT CATERERS. People needed to be rescued, not waited on like it was some form of fast food delievery system). A town of 76,000 people dwindled down to 3,000. The die hards were rewarded last Wednesday when the VFP rolled into town with food and water. The Camp Casey III people were the first ones to bring any relief to Algiers. The people who were supposed to look after its citizens, our government, failed them. (No, I think they failed themselves and, lucky for you, they feed into your biased, uninformed view of reality).

The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there. (Baloney! How do you think they were going to feed their families with a big screen plasma TV. Well, maybe they were going to use it as a boat. Cindy, you have no idea what the crime was like before Katrina. I do. Trust me, although I know there were some looting for essentials, there were many who were not. Go watch the news footage. Go do research about the type of criminals that were filled New Orleans. It was a dangerous city before the storm and worse after. The last time I checked there were no life essential foods or supplies at malls. I don't even think that electronics would be classified as such). If I had a store with an inventory of insured belongings, and a tragedy happened, I would fling my doors open and tell everyone to take what they need: it is only stuff. (Some grocery - GROCERY - stores did). When our fellow citizens are told to "shoot to kill" other fellow citizens because they want to stay alive, that is military and governmental fascism gone out of control. (You better believe I would shoot the first looter I saw if need be. Thank God the military came in and took control with shoot to kill orders. The looters had no qualms about shooting anyone who threatened to stop them taking TV, clothes, stereos, DVDs, CDs, etc).

I could go on, but frankly, I'm too furious to continue typing. This woman is a disgrace to her hero of a son. She should be very ashamed of herself.

A great email

My in-laws received the following email and it really sums up how I feel about all of this. It is from McComb, Ms resident Allan Baker (if I understand correctly). Here it is:

To my friends and family:

What I have seen since Katrina:
The poor and the wealthy hurt by the storm.
Black, white, Hispanic, Oriental and Indian all hurt by the storm.
Christian people giving, giving, giving.
Churches going all out to minister in Jesus' name.
Neighbors going door to door helping one another.
Thugs and hoodlums going door to door looking for someone vulnerable.
Ice and water being fought over as police tried to keep the peace.
People coming up from New Orleans taking over empty houses because shelters are full.
Out of town volunteers coming with food and staying for a week still serving it.
The Churches all over this part of the country doing what Christians do in a crisis.
The Red Cross doing a great job in the shelters.
The Salvation Army doing a great job in the community.
Four Hundred linemen from everywhere bringing back the power to our homes, churches and businesses.
Lines at service stations a block, to a mile long.
National Guardsman patrolling the streets of Mc Comb along with Kentucky policemen protecting us from the hoodlums and thugs of Mc Comb, Pike County and New Orleans (the most dangerous city in the world before Katrina.)
Drug dealers working outside shelters.
Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel working tirelessly, even sleeping in the hospital.

________WHAT I HAVE NOT SEEN ___________

The ACLU setting up a feeding line.
People for the American Way helping in the shelters.
The NAACP doing any work whatsoever.
The American Atheist organization serving meals in the shelters.
Jesse Jackson directing traffic at the gas stations.

I could go on but you get my message. Its the Christian people with love and compassion who do the work.

The gripers in Congress should come on down and get in line to pass the water and the ice. Are you listening Hillary, Chuck, Teddy and all the sorry loafers we call Senators and Congressmen. They don't have a clue as to what this life is all about here on the Gulf Coast. Boy I feel better now.

R.I.P. Robert

I just received bad news from home. My husband Jim told me that our yellow lab, Robert E. Lee, died today. With all the mess from the hurricane, Robert has been spending a lot of time on his leash (no one has a fence anymore and even when we did, he was the Harry Houdini of dogs). It seems that he his leash got caught up under Jim's tire and he strangled himself in a matter of minutes.

Over the past three weeks, Jim and Robert had become in separable around the neighborhood. I hate that I can't be with Jim during all of this (I'm still in Florida with the kids).

Robert was such a great dog. I can't believe that he is gone. Just like that. Will the bad things ever stop happening?

Celebrities and New Orleans

Over the past week and a half, we have seen more and more celebrities flitting into New Orleans to "lend a hand." What egotistical crap! We are not some freak show circus to be gawked at and petted. If these celebrities really want to help, send some of their millions anonymously. No, instead they are there passing out food as their publicists make sure there are plenty of cameras around to document their good deeds to us poor, tragic souls. This is NOT about THEM! More and more I am sick of celebrities. I am so angry I want to reach out and punch them in their smiling, condescending faces.

Journal entries continue

Aug. 30, 2005

Bruce, Chris and Jim have just returned from surveying the office. Everything is lost. The water from the Storm surge was over 5 feet inside of the office. It is so upsetting to think of everything that was there.

The morning, though, we found out how blessed we were personally. Our house was spared any significant damage. A window was broken in our dining room and there was minor damage to the roof above Georgie's room. Our roof lost many shingles and, in one spot, plywood was exposed. I am breathing a huge sigh of relief.

I cannot say the same about my mom's house. Of course, we can only speculate. The news coming out of that side of town is not good. Nothing encouraging has been said, except that the old 5 mile bridge seems to have been spared. The Twin Span bridge has been washed away in many areas.

The word is that we will not have electricity for up to 2 months.

My current concerns are too many to mention. I worry about the kids' schooling. They just started last week. I doubt they will be back in school before 2 months is up. I even worry that J and N, who own their school, will choose not to re-open this year, if at all.

As I watch TV, I learn that casualties are everywhere. This is just horrific. Absolutely horrific! I will never stay for another storm again.

It is also amazing, though, how many people are turning to and speaking openly of God.

This is a warzone. I can't believe the reports coming out of New Orleans. And as I sit here, I can hear sirens all around the city of Slidell.

Will life ever return to normal? Thank God I can turn to His strength because I have none of my own.

Some postive from Katrina

If you have been a regular reader of mine, you know that my brother and I don't see eye-to-eye politically. It has usually led to much ribbing and some arguing.

My brother was in town for a family visit when Katrina struck. Together, our family witnessed first-hand the devastation and aftermath. Together, we would huddle around the small, black and white battery-operated TV and watch the only remaining local station. Together, we heard the stories coming out of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes and states.

I was stunned when Chris announced that he really liked what Haley Barbour and what he had to say after watching a press conference. He said, "He maked a lot of sense." Of course, I immediately said, "That's great. You know, he used to be the chairman for the GOP and he worked closely with Newt Gingrich." To which, there was a moment of stunned silence til he responded, "Oh really."

Chris also was stunned to find, when we left the area on Saturday and started to hear national news, that the MSM was blaming Bush. He just couldn't understand why. Being brought up in the New Orleans area, it was a no-brainer who really deserves the blame. Believe me, they have had 40 years since the last major hurricane (Betsy) to prepare. They knew the levees would break because they broke with Betsy which was only a Cat 3. The administration of New Orleans before Nagin was as corrupt as you can get. And, the ironic thing is that, in light of the race card being played, the New Orleans government is entirely black. And they are the ones lining their own pockets and posturing for more power. They couldn't care less about their own race.

Anyway, back to Chris. He actually defended Bush to his girlfriend. I couldn't believe it! He, in the past, has looked to the government to solve problems. But this experience has taught him that people, ordinary people, can get the job done faster and better. It is best not to rely on the government to solve problems because all that does is take away people's abilities to help themselves and others.

See, some good can come from tragedy.

Journaling

My family and I spent many long days in Slidell in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During that time, when I was unable to have access to the internet and my blog, I renewed my habit of good, old-fashioned journaling. I decided to reprint my entries here.

Aug. 29, 2005 about 6:45pm

I'm sitting here watching our battery-operated TV. I have just experienced the scariest day of my life and the realization is dawning on me now that the next few weeks are going to be worse. To what do I owe this? Hurricane Katrina. The worst-feared threat to New Orleans has occurred. We have experienced our Camille.

The kids, Jim, my brother, who was visiting from Rhode Island, and I joined mom and B at their model home in the subdivision Tuscany in Slidell. Of course, they had no option but to evacuate since they live on Lake Pontchartrain. We chose to leave our house since we live close to the Pearl River. As to how our homes have fared, we have no idea at this point.

The devastation in the area is very evident. The scenes coming out of Jefferson, Orleans, etc Parishes are frightening. A lot of flooding. People going into the attic to escape the rising waters. I keep hoping to see some news from St. Tammany Parish. We are most anxious about the storm surge. Is mom's house still there? Please, Lord, let her house still be there. Hopefully, tomorrow we can get out of this subdivision. From what I understand, there are some big oaks and pines down with tangled power lines blocking Robert Rd.

Here, there is not one house untouched by a fallen tree. While sitting in the hallway during the storm, a tree limb came through the ceiling above the fireplace. But, I think that we had the smallest amount of damage in the subdivision. We were lucky.

More tomorrow

Prayers were answered

I don't know where exactly to begin. I guess that I should start by saying that my immediate family is safe and accounted for. We did stay in Slidell and rode out the storm. Thankfully, we had a place to ride it out that was on high ground and relatively safe. We did have a tree limb go through the ceiling about the fireplace, but compared to the other houses in the neighborhood, we were lucky. Also, compared to the rest of Slidell, we were lucky.

If you are a regular reader of mine you know that my mom and stepdad lived on Lake Pontchartrain. I am forever grateful that they rode out the storm with us, although staying at their home was never an option. Their home was absolutely destroyed. They had a three story home made of I-beams and bullet-proof glass (it was built by a local mobster after Camille - a story for another day). Of those three floors, only the third remained unscathed. The bottom floor was completely gone and 3/4 of the second was as well. There were a few possessions that they really were mourning, like my grandmother's suitcase full of pictures, my dad's electric train given to him by his grandfather, my porcelain dolls, etc. Unbelievably, even though they were on the second floor, they were in the one bedroom that only got a small amount of water damage and they were up high enough to be saved. See, even in such tragedy, I still believe in miracles. The third floor was my parent's bedroom. So, they do have their clothes and bedroom furniture. Also my mom was able to get to her kitchen and salvage her pots and pan and dishes. She was one of the few lucky ones in her neighborhood. Most of her neighbors have no house, only a foundation.

Most of my dad's family, however, lived in New Orleans. At least 12 families within my family are homeless and half of those I have no way of knowing if they got out. Telephone service, as I'm sure you can imagine, does not exist. No one has heard from those that we know nothing of. All we are left to do is register with the Red Cross, wait and pray. I worry about what my family will do with their lives. I know not where they will go. I really fear for my 87 year old grandmother. She lost everything and I can't imagine starting over at that point in your life.

What really makes me sick is in the midst of all this devestation, there are people who use this issue for political grandstanding and sickening self-promotion. The last thing that the people of New Orleans needs to hear is that their rescuers don't care about them. What kind of sick mind games are they playing on these people. They need home and comfort, not more hatred and loathing.

I thank you all for your concerns and prayers. Now that I am able to have access to a computer, I will be writing more often. Please check back. Thank you so much. YOur kindness has soothed this very heavy heart. Time to go register with FEMA.