Katrina "victims" again...

[Devastatin Dave]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_re_us/katrina_flood_lawsuits;_ylt=AlVBAoD0Va4LW3Rg7eJ9IcNH2ocA
I mean come on. These people are unbelievable. If some of these claims win, I'm buying stock in gold teeth and rims. All I can say is...typical.:no:

[Ice]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_re_us/katrina_flood_lawsuits;_ylt=AlVBAoD0Va4LW3Rg7eJ9IcNH2ocA
I mean come on. These people are unbelievable. If some of these claims win, I'm buying stock in gold teeth and rims. All I can say is...typical.:no:


NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina's victims have put a price tag on their suffering and it is staggering — including one plaintiff seeking the unlikely sum of $3 quadrillion.
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A whopping $3,014,170,389,176,410 is the dollar figure so far sought from some of the largest claims filed against the federal government over damage from the failure of levees and flood walls following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

:laugh4:

[CrossLOPER]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_re_us/katrina_flood_lawsuits;_ylt=AlVBAoD0Va4LW3Rg7eJ9IcNH2ocA
I mean come on. These people are unbelievable. If some of these claims win, I'm buying stock in gold teeth and rims. All I can say is...typical.:no:
u b dissin' the thugs' way, bro?

[Reverend Joe]

That's a joke. Literally. Nobody would ever seriously ask for that much money. The sheer amount doesn't even exist.
































































...Right? :help:

[Gregoshi]

But the taxes on that amount should be able to wipe out our national debt. Brilliant!!

:2thumbsup:

[Hepcat]

:laugh4:
That's hilarious!

[Ayachuco]

But the taxes on that amount should be able to wipe out our national debt. Brilliant!!

:2thumbsup:

Or we could split the amount and we'll be the first country where each citizen is a millionaire!!!

[ajaxfetish]

"There's no way on earth you can figure it out," he said. "The trauma these people have undergone is unlike anything that has occurred in the history of our country."
The Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee, the overall Native American genocide, the dust bowl, life in the Donner party, the Chicago Fire, life in Civil War POW camps, internment, the September 11th attacks, and attendance at Britney Spears concerts all pale in comparison to the trauma experienced by these Louisiana unfortunates. In that case, they have my sympathy.

Ajax

[Gregoshi]

But the taxes on that amount should be able to wipe out our national debt. Brilliant!!

:2thumbsup:

The government could levy a new tax (seeing this is New Orleans we're talking about) and collect even more.

[Gregoshi]

The government could levy a new tax (seeing this is New Orleans we're talking about) and collect even more.

You'd think the plantiff would have had enough with levies after Katrina.

[Whacker]

As a taxpayer, I'm pretty pissed about all this spending on N. O. rebuilding. Common sense says that you don't live below sea level in an area prone to frequent extremely violent storms that can and do cause widespread destruction.

Time to get a reality check, bulldoze the remains of the city (except the commercial seaport areas), and move everyone and everything several miles north to solid dry ground. The "culture" of New Orleans is in it's people, not in a location.

[Hepcat]

As a taxpayer, I'm pretty pissed about all this spending on N. O. rebuilding. Common sense says that you don't live below sea level in an area prone to frequent extremely violent storms that can and do cause widespread destruction.

Time to get a reality check, bulldoze the remains of the city (except the commercial seaport areas), and move everyone and everything several miles north to solid dry ground. The "culture" of New Orleans is in it's people, not in a location.

The government should just make sure that this time they build it properly. Common sense also says not to build a city on a major earthquake faultline, yet here in NZ the main fault line runs straight through our capital and our parliamentary buildings almost directly on top of it. The State highway going out of the capital is also running along right on top of the fault line. However all buildings in Wellington are earthquake safe, or in the process of becoming so. My city is built inside the caldera of a volcanic eruption from thousands of years ago and the entire region was devastated in 1886 when Mt. Tarawera erupted and destroyed and buried the settlement. Yet it was rebuilt here. We still have problems with geothermal activity damaging houses and Kourau park just exploded firing mud up into the air a few years back. But these things are monitored and we aren't too badly prepared for when the next natural disaster strikes.

Personally New Orleans was the American city that I most wanted to visit before it was so tragically devastated. I was horrified when it happened since ever since I first got into jazz the idea of visiting New Orleans and hearing all music and bands there had been a dream of mine.

It seems so sad to just forget the place and demolish it.

[Ja'chyra]

It all seems a bit ridiculous to me, why are they claiming for anything?

Seems to me that's why you have insurance, to cover this sort of thing?

Oh, and why are insurance companies claiming? Because they had to pay out? LOL, if you don't want to pay claims don't be an insurer.

And as for 3 quadrillion, I hope he gets nothing.

[Odin]

@gregoshi You alright buddy? :spammer:

[Whacker]

The government should just make sure that this time they build it properly.

Well given the situation, yes that is the right thing to do and there's a real opportunity for that to occur.


It seems so sad to just forget the place and demolish it.

No no no no no no no that's not what I said or meant at all. :furious3: :laugh4: What I said was move everything north a few miles to ground that's not swampland and above sea level, and rebuild it from scratch there. Bulldoze most of what's there now, and give it back to nature, turn it back into swampland and a wildlife refuge, etc. As I said, the heart and soul of a culture and area comes from it's people, and the people can rebuild their lives and city in an area that's safe to do so and won't cause another multi-billion dollar ruckus when they get into a bind because they chose a poor spot to build on.

Also, in regards to the first part of your post, there are some key differences (and some similiarities I guess). First, Kiwiland is much, much smaller than the US, and the actual amount of viable land to settle and use isn't nearly as much. Plus, it's so damn beautiful down there with all the unspoiled nature, that it would also make sense to provide some government protection to prevent populating certain areas. We all know how geologically active NZ is, and this is the key point, when you get too many people in an area, they're going to spread out, even into areas that are geologically active and hazardous to live in. Earthquakes are one thing and buildings can be engineered to resist the destructive effects, but volcanos are another entirely. Case and point, look at the Royal Gardens subdivision on the big island of hawaii. 80% of it is now under about 50 ft of 20 year old lava. People whined and cried and threw a major fit about it for a long time when Pu'u O'o vent erupted... but let's be blunt, that's what you get for living in a high risk area like that.

I guess it just annoys me when people go live in areas like that with well documented risks, then proceed to throw major tantrums and demand (and get) millions and billions in government resources to dig them out of whatever situation they got themselves into. Latest edition of national geographic, people living on the slopes of Mt. Merapi in Indonesia, a VERY active volcano. I say let em roast, and when it finally goes up again, don't risk other's lives to go find the idiots who stayed. Build your city in the caldera of an active volcano? OK, it's your lives, but my vote is that you're all on your own when it finally cooks off again. I guess part of my point here is that I don't care if others choose to live with risk in areas of the planet that are dangerous, my problem is that both A. the people who do this invariably demand and expect the rest of mankind to help them out of situations when they occur, and B. the rest of us seem to have this stupid mindset that we owe it to these folks to go pull them out.

I hope you know that I'm not yelling at you or directing any of this at you Hep, these are just more of my general thoughts. Good discussion though.

[Vladimir]

Turn NO into a federally protected wetland. That will teach 'em!

[Gregoshi]

Turn NO into a federally protected wetland. That will teach 'em!
Makes sense. With Bourbon Street and drive thru daiquiri stands, New Orleans ain't exactly a dry town. :inquisitive:

[Husar]

I agree with Whacker except for one point maybe.
You have to rescue the people who live there if something happens if they have kids. After all the kids have to live with their parents and do usually not choose where their parents live.
Apart from that I wouldn't like to live in such an area either, makes you wonder about the dutch though.

[Lemur]

Actually, there are parts of Nawlins that are above sea-level. Ever wonder why the flood never reached the French Quarter? Right, because in the old days, they built on the highest land. (This is one of many reasons Lemur bought a 150+ year old house.)

Here's an alternative proposal: Bulldoze everything that is not naturally above sea level, build a new city miles away on higher ground, link the two with a causeway ... etc. You get the idea.

The advantage of the Lemur Proposal is that all of the old, beautiful, historic buildings would be preserved, but without the insanity of building slums and strip malls below sea level.

[Vladimir]

Global warming = No NO

:laugh4:

[Devastatin Dave]

Actually, there are parts of Nawlins that are above sea-level. Ever wonder why the flood never reached the French Quarter? Right, because in the old days, they built on the highest land. (This is one of many reasons Lemur bought a 150+ year old house.)

Here's an alternative proposal: Bulldoze everything that is not naturally above sea level, build a new city miles away on higher ground, link the two with a causeway ... etc. You get the idea.

The advantage of the Lemur Proposal is that all of the old, beautiful, historic buildings would be preserved, but without the insanity of building slums and strip malls below sea level.
And who will pay for this? Hmmmmmm

[Xiahou]

And who will pay for this? Hmmmmmm
Whoever wants to live there. The obscene amount of money the federal government has spent on NO since Katrina, imo, goes way beyond what it should be responsible for.

I don't care if people want to rebuild and live below sea level. I just think it should be made abundantly clear that it's their own choice to do so, they are aware of the risks, and the rest of the country isn't going to be responsible for making everything all better again when the next Katrina rolls around. If people want to take that risk, it's their choice.

[Vladimir]

Whoever wants to live there. The obscene amount of money the federal government has spent on NO since Katrina, imo, goes way beyond what it should be responsible for.

I don't care if people want to rebuild and live below sea level. I just think it should be made abundantly clear that it's their own choice to do so, they are aware of the risks, and the rest of the country isn't going to be responsible for making everything all better again when the next Katrina rolls around. If people want to take that risk, it's their choice.

But you won't get any votes that way!

[Mikeus Caesar]

Lemur - if the conspiracy that Dave refers to as 'global warming' does come true, then the French Quarter is screwed anyway, even if it on higher ground. Sea levels rise, another Katrina comes in, swoosh, the entire thing gets to experience what the slums have already enjoyed.

I personally agree with Whacker. Move everyone further inland, make a New New Orleans. But don't demolish everything, that costs too much. Just leave it to rot. It would make for a great film set! Rather than film-makers going to the expense of building costly sets and then blowing them up, they could pay a small amount to the government and blow up a chunk of N'awlins.