Prince Charles visits New Orleans

[Bascule]

I'm intrigued by the US reaction to Prince Charles visiting New Orleans at the moment (I'm British).

Is this in the news over there?
Are people interested in what he has to say?
Does he influence the way you perceive the UK?

FWIW I think he's a flappy eared fool and have no interest in anything he does or says. I want the UK to become a republic when the Queen dies and he inherits the throne.

Mods - apologies if this is the wrong forum.

[Ray Zee]

yes its in the news. too bad the public here doesnt care. he is not only a wonderful person, but very smart and enterprising. he made organic products when no one thought or even knew what they were about and was successful. he is very eco minded and i like that, as i am forced to live on this planet.
his foundations help lots of people in need and he personally spends his time doing good deeds. hard to beat that.
try to see the forest thru the trees.

[Bascule]

Hi Ray thanks for your thoughts. I didn't say he's a bad person BTW, merely that he's a fool. I agree with you that he does good deeds re. his charity work.

His promotion of organic farming notwithstanding, his green credentials are dubious. In particular there was a story a few years ago when his Bentley (not exactly a fuel-efficient mode of transport) was driven from the UK to Austria and back.

He makes pronouncements on many issues (notably architecture) that would receive no coverage were he not the heir to the throne. On occasions he has interfered in political issues (another link). He is expert in no subjects, and has no political mandate.

He is a highly priviliged individual who wields political power through accident of birth, but I think political power should be in the hands of elected politicians only. I feel the UK's monarchy can continue to exist only if our monarchs, and future monarchs, refrain from political pronouncements of any kind, and that Charles has failed in this respect.

[LittleOldLady]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm intrigued by the US reaction to Prince Charles visiting New Orleans at the moment (I'm British).

Is this in the news over there?
Are people interested in what he has to say?
Does he influence the way you perceive the UK?

FWIW I think he's a flappy eared fool and have no interest in anything he does or says. I want the UK to become a republic when the Queen dies and he inherits the throne.

Mods - apologies if this is the wrong forum.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, as a New Orleanian whose house was flooded to the roof and who is at the moment displaced, I care not at all about Charles and Camilla's visit. I read the New Orleans press online, and I didn't even bother to click on the Charles and Camilla articles. In fact, I am sick of all the celebrities who visited or who claim to be working for Katrina relief. I can tell you that other than the FEMA $2000 relief payment and the FEMA rent subsidy, I have received no help from any source, and that includes the Red Cross which has collected a jillion dollars which they have used for shelters that have fewer amenities than the average dog kennel and for packets of buckets and mops. I have no idea why no help is being offered to people who evacuated to places other than shelters. I think most donors intended their money to help all victims. Well, never mind if I get charity or not. I would just be happy if my damned insurance companies would answer my calls and pay me the settlement owed me under my policy for which I paid through the nose.

Back to Charles. The House of Hanover and the Battenbergs seem to have been toward the rear of the line when intelligence and talent were handed out. They are really nothing but living tourist attractions with delusions of grandeur. How can you take seriously a man who has declared that his desire is to be Camilla's tampon even if he does charitable works (which pretty much are his "job")?

[Ray Zee]

i tend to agrree that non elected people shouldnt be making policical decisions. i dont know if his power allows that or not. but sometimes its good if someone that does not have to be polically correct can exert some influence in key things.
england seems to want to perpetuate the monarchy thing so you are stuck with it for a long time to come i guess.

A few of the cable TV "talking heads" are focusing on Camilla's wardrobe, FCOL! One pair I noticed is counting down from the 50 outfits she alledgedly brought with her. hmmmmm, after I typed that... wonder if they've got an over/under bet?

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Ray Zee]

sorry about your house. out where i live some people every year lose all their possessions to fire. they get no relief from fema or rent subsity or help from charities. only friends and relatives and they have to start all over. life can be cruel.
if you paid for that coverage you are entitled to it right now. hope it works out for you, its good to vent but dont let bitterness ruin a positive future.

[LittleOldLady]

[ QUOTE ]
sorry about your house. out where i live some people every year lose all their possessions to fire. they get no relief from fema or rent subsity or help from charities. only friends and relatives and they have to start all over. life can be cruel.
if you paid for that coverage you are entitled to it right now. hope it works out for you, its good to vent but dont let bitterness ruin a positive future.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ray, this is a whole lot worse than losing a house to fire, because in a fire the insurance comes out and pays you your policy limits, you truck away the debris, and you rebuild. We are sitting with rotting, contaminated houses which are (inadequately) insured by the federal flood insurance program which had a very low cap as to how much insurance one can carry no matter the value of the house. We do not know whether we will be permitted to repair or whether we must bulldoze and rebuild, and in either case, most houses will need to comply with a new code regarding elevation among other things, and we don't know what that code will be. Further, unlike a fire, the entire infrastructure of the city has been destroyed. Large areas of the city have no electricity or gas, and the entire city is without phone service. The mail is sporadic to non-existent. Most of the city has no open stores, gas stations, etc. There is no trauma center. A few private schools are open, but there are no public schools. Eighty per cent of the city is covered in contaminated mud, and the houses are filled with mold and mildew and dangerous to enter. There are four-story high mountains of debris on the neutral grounds stretching for blocks. The city streets are lined with dead refrigerators filled with stinking rotten food, each one of which has to have the refrigerant removed before it can be dumped. Looters are going from house to house stealing whatever has been salvaged because all of the houses are open, and there is inadequate police protection. Since I am within one block of the London Avenue Canal, I am concerned that my property will be seized by eminent domain, and I will get next to nothing for it. There is also a plan being floated to give the city usufruct over the destroyed houses. This means that the city will rebuild the houses, rent them for several years to whomever they please, and after the rental period, the owner will either have to pay the city the cost of repairs/rebuilding or lose ownership of the property which will be sold to whomever, and the proceeds used to reimburse the city with anything leftover going to the owner. This looks to me like a pretty nefarious plot to seize property without paying fair market value (whatever that might be under the circumstances).

Ray, I would be sooooo happy if my house had burned down. I was completely insured against fire, and by now the debris would have been cleared, and a contractor would be building a new house on my lot. I would buy new furniture, and I would be made whole. However,under the current circumstances I will never be made whole, and I am sitting here in Vegas trying to get the damned insurance people to answer their phones or return my calls and worrying what I will be allowed to do with the rotting hulk that used to be a very nice 4 bedroom house in a beautiful, tree-shaded neighborhood. And of course at the moment there is no levee protection against future flooding, so anything rebuilt now is vulnerable.

Well, FEMA did call me today to see if I wanted to live in a trailer. No thanks. What I am getting from FEMA is not relief. I have to deal with FEMA because FEMA is the sole source of flood insurance in this country. The rent subsidies are in lieu of alternate living expenses which are not included in flood policies although my homeowners' policy would provide up to two years of money for temporary housing in the event of fire. I have not gotten one penny from the Red Cross or any other private charity. The Red Cross has been running those horrid shelters and giving out mops and brooms. Those who made their own housing arrangements are not being helped by the Red Cross. BTW the Red Cross and other private charities do help burned-out families meet their immediate needs. I am sure they do this in Montana as well as elsewhere. I did the responsible thing and paid through the nose for insurance, which has so far done me no good at all.

[Ray Zee]

sounds like a bum deal all around and you get the short end of the stick. realisically you dont want to go back there even if you have roots there for many years to come. the contaninents arent worth messing with. work hard to get as much as you can and move on to better things. sometimes thats all we have the option for. when this stuff happens our eyes are awakend to how little our govt. helps us when we need it. but that is suspected anyway before hand. my heart is out to you and now its time to rebuild your life someplace else until its safe to go back
good luck.

[LittleOldLady]

[ QUOTE ]
sounds like a bum deal all around and you get the short end of the stick. realisically you dont want to go back there even if you have roots there for many years to come. the contaninents arent worth messing with. work hard to get as much as you can and move on to better things. sometimes thats all we have the option for. when this stuff happens our eyes are awakend to how little our govt. helps us when we need it. but that is suspected anyway before hand. my heart is out to you and now its time to rebuild your life someplace else until its safe to go back
good luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am trying to rebuild my life here in Vegas--not easy to do at my age when the only people I know here are my son and his wife. I am essentially stuck without transportation. I can't get a new car without the insurance for the old car, and I can't get that until I can get a duplicate title from the Louisiana DMV, the original title being in the not-so-safe safe deposit box along with will, birth and death certificates, divorce papers, deed to house etc.--all of which are now useless pulp. Louisiana had an estimated 350,000 dead cars, most of which will need duplicate titles in order to be legally taken off the books. This flood has ramifications far beyond what'normal' disasters have. Every time you turn around, some perfectly commonplace thing has become a major project. You do and you do, and nothing gets done or even partially done. What a frustration!

That said, Ray, if you visit Vegas, let me know. I could use some conversation with an interesting person. Same goes for any other more or less middleaged 2+2er visiting Sin City. I'd love to see some new faces. I promise to skip the whining....