http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2002-2006 by the authors Sun, 21 May 2006 20:53:14 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/21/121026.php#comment-373130 Best advice I can think of, Ruvy. Lots of hugs. ]]> 373130@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 May 2006 20:53:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/21/121026.php#comment-373122 JP, Ruvy is right. Love on 'em first, then if the subject comes up, or they start complaining about conditions, hold back and remember a tongue coated with honey speaks sweeter. Perhaps in due time they will see. Hopefully another event won't come cruising through anytime soon. But the odds are not with them there. Especially with a weakened infrastructure. Another point nobody reallys talks to is the rise in the crime rate once the imported labor force shows up to rebuild. I have it on good authority that there is already talk of turf wars between local gangs and incoming transplants, with the hedge money on the black tar heroin trade embedded into the incoming laborers culture. Need I say more? I have done alot of work down there since November and was basically told that NOLA won't really be safe for another 10 to 15, perhaps 20 years. I guess I've been there enough.... and unless I'm working down that way again responding to emergent situations, I'm not going back. ]]> 373122@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 May 2006 20:34:43 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/21/121026.php#comment-373025 I agree that you wrote an excellent piece, JP. It is hard to return to a devastated home. Frankly, in asking what you tell your relatives. you tell them how good it is to see them, you lather out the affection (however it is done in your family) and you keep your trap shut unless asked. Then, don't hold back. If you honestly do not think there is a future for them there, say so. They are family - you help family. Whatever you do, drink some Community Coffee for me. That is what I will always remember about New Orleans - that and the bus driver who was as impolite as a New York bus driver - I felt vey much at home in New Orleans over the few days I spent there 28 years ago. ]]> 373025@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 May 2006 16:43:24 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/21/121026.php#comment-372917 Thanks, Dave. That's the conclusion I've come to, although it's very tough to find the right words.. I appreciate the input. ]]> 372917@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 May 2006 12:30:23 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/21/121026.php#comment-372910 Excellent piece, JP. As for what to tell your relatives, you could just explicate for them some examples of people in similar circumstances who were forced out by the disaster and never returned. Hundreds of thousands of them who had been living in poverty found better paying jobs and better circumstances almost instantly in nearby cities which have been living with a labor shortage for years, like Houston and Dallas. And these aren't bad cities - Houston even has Bayous - and they have had a population of Louisiana refugees since before Katrina, and with the evacuees they've now got defined packets of Louisiana culture that are significant enough to retain their identity for some time, especially in Houston. But most importantly these cities have jobs and opportunities which were never going to be there in New Orleans even before the storm. In the long term, having to leave the city will have been a blessing for most who got out. Dave ]]> 372910@blogcritics.org Sun, 21 May 2006 12:18:17 EDT