I am A Tea Party, South Park Republican. And there is no doubt James O'Keefe has done more than anyone to expose the hypocrisy and criminality of The Left / Mainstream Media in these last five years. He has gone after the truth where no one else would dare.
But this goes WAY beyond the pale. This wasn't about exposing abuse or fraud by the Democrats and their hangers on. This appears, from what the article indicates, to be a petty, personal vendetta.
Jim Letten is a friend of mine. He is, without a doubt, one of the finest and most honorable men I have had the pleasure to know. Know his wife and kids, too. And for O'Keefe to try to embroil them in his anger is not 'guerilla journalism'. It is simply despicable. Despicable.
One correction, though, is necessary. The article's insinuation that O'Keefe's ACORN videos were not accurate is bullshit. They were no more "selectively edited" than a 60 Minutes expose video is "selectively edited". Plus, O'Keefe released the full raw feed which backed the up his conclusion. Ever see Morley Safer do that?
Showing posts with label yatville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yatville. Show all posts
27 January 2009
How Not To Do A Memorial. (UPDATED, With Images And Things)
WARNING: Uber-rant about Katrina, with bad words, follows. So plan accordingly.)
This is for my New Orleans readers, and especially my Lakeview neighborhood readers, or any readers who have ever lived in Lakeview, New Orleans, or understand the pain of Katrina.
It seems someone, I don't know who exactly, wants to put up a Katrina memorial on top of, and in front of, and in the old bomb shelter in the neutral ground on West End Boulevard:
image by Mathes-Brierre Architects
Lets just say I have a few issues with it.
Let's just say.
For starters, the design is beautiful. And were it being proposed to celebrate a great person, or some noble achievement, I'd say fine. But we're talking about a fucking disaster here!! Do we really need something "influenced by the Lincoln Memorial"?? Was Lincoln a disaster?
Actually, the main building looks nothing like the Lincoln Memorial. A gigantic three-story carousel was my first reaction. I half expected to see 20 foot high painted horses going round and round. (We already have a carousel in City Park, thank you very much. It's very nice.) (UPDATE: Come to think of it, after dealing with FEMA the merry-go-round imagery is rather apropos. You go round and round in circles, you get dizzy, and you want to throw up. Sounds about right.)
The water features are totally inappropriate. Water was the vehicle of the Katrina disaster. It is iconic of the pain, destruction and death, not the most appropriate medium to commemorate what happened. Would one suggest a memorial at Auschwitz made of ovens? Didn't think so.
And what's up with the broken wall and the water. That's fucking a sensitive "reflection". Why not toss in 1,100 plastic mannequins floating face down? That'll drive the point home. Pump some raw sewerage into it for an added sense of reality.
But the best in a long list of kicks in the balls is this: if you look through the plans, on page 13/25 it shows that the museum has a "gift shop".
Yes, that's what I said. A. Gift. Shop.
I don't know what the FEMA you would sell in a Katrina "Gift Shop," but here are some suggestions:
Ponchos made of 'Blue Tarp' material, with the museum logo on it. Include kids sizes.
Little bottles of 'Purell'.
Snack-sized portions of blue cheese. Or Limburger.
Sandbags. And sand.
Copies of "Oops. A History of the Corps of Engineers in New Orleans".
N-90 face masks.
Kathleen Blanco indecision ball (antithesis of the magic 8-ball).
Miniature zen garbage pile. Complete with little rake, shovel, and wheelbarrow.
Duct Tape.
Some scale models of Cadillac Esclades (in blue and white) and Army CH-47s.
Tetanus shots.
New 'Axe in the Attic' game. Patterned on Jenga and Lincoln Logs, you have to cut your way out of simulated roof decking with a toy axe without the roof collapsing and the killing the little plastic family figurines below. DS and X-Box 360 versions available, too.
Barbie's FEMA Trailer Dollhouse. (Formaldehyde test kit included. FEMA-Trailer Barbie and NOPD Ken sold separately.)
'Looting for Dummies'.
MREs and canned water.
Little statues of Sean Penn in his sinking flatboat.
Ray Nagin NSFW excuse generator software.
I don't care how nice the flavor sketches and renderings are, this whole thing just screams inappropriate. It has all the sensitivity and reverence of a fart in church.
So much for the aesthetic sensitivities, now let's look at some practical issues:
Who is going to pay to build this thing? The City's broke; so is the State. The feds call a stainless steel railing (good choice in a salt-water coastal environment) an extravagance - Lord knows what they'd say about this. This is not a three or four million dollar project. I'd say, with all of the site work and all of the work they will have to do to the old bomb shelter, $15 - 20 million plus. That's just a guess, because I have no idea about the finishes. And that spiraling ramp ain't gonna be cheap, either.
So it gets built. OK, now who's gonna pay to maintain it? As before, the governments are broke. Hell, the City can't even keep the current neutral ground maintained, and it's just grass and a few trees. When the water systems for the fountains break, will it be repaired, or will this end up just like the water feature at Bayou St. John and Robert E. Lee, or the Mardi Gras fountain at the lakefront?
And when this does become a stagnant eyesore, will it have to be fenced in and abandoned? Yet another memorial to New Orleans' bad planning and wasting money?
This is a sore point with me because I grew up not 100 feet from where this monster is being proposed. My parents lived there until the flooding, and are coming back. This is my neighborhood. The people there are my friends. Do we need a memorial to this disaster? Damn right, we do. But, this ain't it. We do not need another tourist trap, a disaster disneyland destination for the Gray Line buses - especially plopped smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Try again, folks.
Here endeth the rant.
This is for my New Orleans readers, and especially my Lakeview neighborhood readers, or any readers who have ever lived in Lakeview, New Orleans, or understand the pain of Katrina.
It seems someone, I don't know who exactly, wants to put up a Katrina memorial on top of, and in front of, and in the old bomb shelter in the neutral ground on West End Boulevard:
image by Mathes-Brierre Architects
Lets just say I have a few issues with it.
Let's just say.
For starters, the design is beautiful. And were it being proposed to celebrate a great person, or some noble achievement, I'd say fine. But we're talking about a fucking disaster here!! Do we really need something "influenced by the Lincoln Memorial"?? Was Lincoln a disaster?
Actually, the main building looks nothing like the Lincoln Memorial. A gigantic three-story carousel was my first reaction. I half expected to see 20 foot high painted horses going round and round. (We already have a carousel in City Park, thank you very much. It's very nice.) (UPDATE: Come to think of it, after dealing with FEMA the merry-go-round imagery is rather apropos. You go round and round in circles, you get dizzy, and you want to throw up. Sounds about right.)
The water features are totally inappropriate. Water was the vehicle of the Katrina disaster. It is iconic of the pain, destruction and death, not the most appropriate medium to commemorate what happened. Would one suggest a memorial at Auschwitz made of ovens? Didn't think so.
And what's up with the broken wall and the water. That's fucking a sensitive "reflection". Why not toss in 1,100 plastic mannequins floating face down? That'll drive the point home. Pump some raw sewerage into it for an added sense of reality.
But the best in a long list of kicks in the balls is this: if you look through the plans, on page 13/25 it shows that the museum has a "gift shop".
Yes, that's what I said. A. Gift. Shop.
I don't know what the FEMA you would sell in a Katrina "Gift Shop," but here are some suggestions:
Ponchos made of 'Blue Tarp' material, with the museum logo on it. Include kids sizes.
Little bottles of 'Purell'.
Snack-sized portions of blue cheese. Or Limburger.
Sandbags. And sand.
Copies of "Oops. A History of the Corps of Engineers in New Orleans".
N-90 face masks.
Kathleen Blanco indecision ball (antithesis of the magic 8-ball).
Miniature zen garbage pile. Complete with little rake, shovel, and wheelbarrow.
Duct Tape.
Some scale models of Cadillac Esclades (in blue and white) and Army CH-47s.
Tetanus shots.
New 'Axe in the Attic' game. Patterned on Jenga and Lincoln Logs, you have to cut your way out of simulated roof decking with a toy axe without the roof collapsing and the killing the little plastic family figurines below. DS and X-Box 360 versions available, too.
Barbie's FEMA Trailer Dollhouse. (Formaldehyde test kit included. FEMA-Trailer Barbie and NOPD Ken sold separately.)
'Looting for Dummies'.
MREs and canned water.
Little statues of Sean Penn in his sinking flatboat.
Ray Nagin NSFW excuse generator software.
I don't care how nice the flavor sketches and renderings are, this whole thing just screams inappropriate. It has all the sensitivity and reverence of a fart in church.
So much for the aesthetic sensitivities, now let's look at some practical issues:
Who is going to pay to build this thing? The City's broke; so is the State. The feds call a stainless steel railing (good choice in a salt-water coastal environment) an extravagance - Lord knows what they'd say about this. This is not a three or four million dollar project. I'd say, with all of the site work and all of the work they will have to do to the old bomb shelter, $15 - 20 million plus. That's just a guess, because I have no idea about the finishes. And that spiraling ramp ain't gonna be cheap, either.
So it gets built. OK, now who's gonna pay to maintain it? As before, the governments are broke. Hell, the City can't even keep the current neutral ground maintained, and it's just grass and a few trees. When the water systems for the fountains break, will it be repaired, or will this end up just like the water feature at Bayou St. John and Robert E. Lee, or the Mardi Gras fountain at the lakefront?
And when this does become a stagnant eyesore, will it have to be fenced in and abandoned? Yet another memorial to New Orleans' bad planning and wasting money?
This is a sore point with me because I grew up not 100 feet from where this monster is being proposed. My parents lived there until the flooding, and are coming back. This is my neighborhood. The people there are my friends. Do we need a memorial to this disaster? Damn right, we do. But, this ain't it. We do not need another tourist trap, a disaster disneyland destination for the Gray Line buses - especially plopped smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Try again, folks.
Here endeth the rant.
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