Category: Opinion

A Vieux From Toulouse

(Meme by Eric T. Styles)
TWO HURRICANES ARE COMING!
Quick, close everything down!
Board up all of the windows!
Everyone cower inside out of fear!
Oh wait, we already good.

I feel the same way for every hurricane: I am sick and tired of hearing about them even before they make landfall. It’s all that anyone talks about. It’s plastered all over the media and Rouses is packed with people hoarding tuna fish and liquor. Then the storms turn out to be nothing.

Granted, I wasn’t here for Katrina. I know a lot of survivors from that storm and I’ll cut them a break when it comes to over reacting to predictions. I did grow up on the Jersey Shore and have seen my fair share of hurricanes and Nor’easters. You folks down here think you are the champs of surviving storms? Have you ever had hurricane winds with ice and snow? Ok, go sit down then.

Do you know how I could predict a storm was coming when I was in New Jersey? News trucks. I use to drive a line bus for New Jersey Transit into a little shore town named Sea Bright. It just happened to be the lowest lying town on the shore and would easily flood with moderate rainfall or even an exceptionally high tide. I’d pull into the town on my first run and see all of the local news trucks from New York City lined up on Ocean Avenue and I would say to my passengers “Looks like we’re going to get a storm.”

The over zealous reporters would do a dramatic live broadcast on the stone seawall with waves splashing foam behind them, or they would find the deepest puddle in town and stand in it. I understand how the need for viewers and ratings drive these theatrics. I believe the need for sensational news coverage can be traced back to our bloodlust at the Roman Coliseums.  

My first major storm down here was the not very impressive Hurricane Isaac. The usual 5 days of hype and fearporn prior to landfall. During the night of the storm, my buddy and I did what any rational Quarter Rat would do, go bar hopping. We wandered around the near-desolate Quarter and ended up on Canal Street looking for the predicted devastation, but only found a Weather Channel news crew. The water was just only splashing at curb level, much the same as any heavy summer storm would produce.

In 20 minutes we found ourselves ducking out of the shifting winds and into dark Aunt Tiki’s on Decatur Street. A handful of locals were ten drinks into the night and repeating the phrase “This ain’t shit.” Our eyes were caught by the TV showing a reporter standing at an angle in New Orleans. That was the crew we had just passed by. The footage didn’t look how we remembered it. The camera man had placed the camera on the sidewalk. From that angle, the water looked like it was 3 feet deep across Canal Street. We elbowed each other pointing and yelling “BULLSHIT!”

I guess I could get on a high horse about the news media sensationalizing a nonstory and filling the public with unwarranted fear for ratings and profits. Maybe it rests on us, the public. We like the drama of impending doom. Perhaps we need these panics to keep us on our toes, a reminder of what can happen. Not that 2020 actually needed anymore unwarranted fears and near tragedies.

On the plus side, we were already boarded up. Good luck everybody with this meteorological gang bang.

UPDATED Tropical storms Marco and Laura forecast to reach Louisiana as hurricanes

Body of Jose Ponce Arreola recovered from Hard Rock Hotel collapse 10 months later

(Photo: Infrogmation | CC)
The body of the last construction worker that was killed in the Hard Rock Hotel collapse and remained trapped in the ruins for 10 months was recovered on Monday, city officials confirmed.

Crews removed the body of Jose Ponce Arreola, 63, from the collapse site located at 1031 Canal St. shortly after 4 p.m., according to New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell

The recovery team was composed of members from the New Orleans Fire Department and Louisiana Task Force 1, which was led by Capt. Danny Simon.

McConnell commended the teams vigilance and dedication during the monthslong recovery process.

The remains of Quinnyon Wimberly, 36, were recovered Aug. 9. Wimberly, Arreola and Anthony Magrette, 49, were killed and more than a dozen were injured on the morning of Oct. 12, 2019 when the 18-story Hard Rock Hotel building partially collapsed.

Magrette’s remains were recovered the day after the collapse.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and McConnell witnessed a private service with Arreola’s family at the collapse site on Monday.

Safe and respectful removal of the bodies has been a top priority since the collapse occurred, according to Cantrell

“We are grateful to finally have some measure of closure for both families, who had to experience an intolerable delay,” Cantrell said in a press release. “Moving forward, we will continue to hold ownership accountable, at every level.”

Quinnyon Wimberly recovered from Hard Rock Hotel ruins

A Vieux From Toulouse

“Comparing the explosion in Lebanon to the hotel collapse in New Orleans is comparing apples to oranges.”

Most everyone is aware of the massive explosion that took place in Beirut, Lebanon on Aug. 4. So far the death toll is approximately at 200, with anticipation of that number rising, thousands injured and catastrophic damage to the city center. The cause is believed to be 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a very explosive material stored in a warehouse.

In the days following the deadly blast, it became apparent that the leaders and government officials were well aware of the very real hazard in the heart of the city. This sparked massive nation-wide protests that lead to the resignation of the Prime Minister and other responsible parties. As of Aug. 8, Badri Daher, the director-general of Lebanon’s customs authority, and 20 other people have been arrested. Protests still continue addressing previous smoldering grievances.

The protesters want accountability of their government for the negligence and possible corruption that lead to this tragedy. It’s basic responsibility of citizens to hold those accountable that we place in charge of public safety. The law isn’t one-sided, it applies to those who enforce it as well. That is the premise behind many protests here in the U.S. The government (police) must be held accountable for wrongful death of citizens with the same standard that the government holds the citizens.

Now let’s talk about the Hard Rock Hotel collapse.
“Hold on there buddy. Comparing the explosion in Lebanon to the collapse in NOLA is comparing apples to oranges.”
No it’s not. It’s comparing three apples to 200 apples. Only quantity is different.

City officials negligent in their duties have directly lead to the deaths of citizens. The only protests, and outrage, were over the ridiculously long period of time that it took to recover the bodies. I’m sure when that is done, the mayor will give everyone a pat on the back and hopes this goes away for good.

Where the fuck have you been New Orleans citizens? I watched all of you spend a week protesting an event that took place in another city. In your outrage you want another city to seek justice for one death, but you don’t seem to give a damn about your own city killing three. What’s the problem? These local deaths aren’t trendy enough? It isn’t nationally hip and cool enough for you to care? A late-night talk show host didn’t tell you to go out and protest it, so you didn’t?

The audacity of our own city officials encouraging the George Floyd protests in New Orleans during a lockdown for the rest of us. Great smoke screen for Mayor Karen, point to another city’s lack of accountability for its employees while sweeping her own under the tarp.

Records show the city engineers failed to even go to the construction site on days they signed off on permits. Who were their supervisors? Who supervised the supervisors? Yes there were a couple of resignations—with a pension, I bet.

Those city engineers will probably now go work for private developers and construction companies where they will be the ones sliding an envelope across the desk with a wink to their former co-worker. I guess the voters are cool with that.

Where are protests from construction workers? Do Contractor Lives Matter? It’s your asses out there; these were your peers. I know, the companies that you work for would discourage you from protesting the very system that they enable and profit from. Your truck payment is more important I guess.

Didn’t the developer donate $70,000 to the Mayor and her cronies? Any investigation into that? We don’t trust cops to police themselves, but City hall can investigate itself?

This whole thing stinks like a rotting corpse over Canal Street.

Quinnyon Wimberly recovered from Hard Rock Hotel ruins

New Orleans establishes no drone zone around Hard Rock Hotel

(Photo: Jeff Turner | CC)
New Orleans officials on Friday placed a temporary flight restriction on unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, around the Hard Rock Hotel collapse site.

The restriction includes a ban on drones within a half-mile radius of the hotel until further notice.

Officials established the no drone zone as crews prepared to recover the body of Quinnyon Wimberly, 36, who was one of three construction workers killed in the hotel’s partial collapse on Oct. 12, 2019.

Wimberly’s remains were recovered on Saturday, nearly 10 months after the collapse.

Quinnyon Wimberly recovered from Hard Rock Hotel ruins