Mayor Nagin Looks To Foreign Aid To Rebuild New Orleans

[Nbadan]

N.O. Rebuilding money has been slow in coming. Where's Brown and Root??

NEW ORLEANS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Shortcomings in aid from the U.S. government are making New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin look to other nations for help in rebuilding his hurricane-damaged city.

Nagin, who has hosted a steady stream of foreign dignitaries since Hurricane Katrina hit in late August, says he may seek international assistance because U.S. aid has not been sufficient to get the city back on its feet.

"I know we had a little disappointment earlier with some signals we're getting from Washington but the international community may be able to fill the gap," Nagin said when a delegation of French government and business officials passed through on Friday to explore potential business partnerships.

Jordan's King Abdullah also visited New Orleans on Friday and Nagin said he would encourage foreign interests to help redevelop some of the areas hardest hit by the storm.

"France can take Treme. The king of Jordan can take the Lower Ninth Ward," he said, referring to two of the city's neighborhoods.

Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,300 people in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Bush administration has pledged billions of dollars to Katrina victims but five months after the storm, New Orleans remains largely in ruins.

Alert Net

Hugo Chavez is helping low income people in New Haven, Ct. offering heating oil at lowered prices. Fidel Castro is offering doctors to the uninsured poor.

What country is this again?

[Nbadan]

NEW ORLEANS - Hauling everything he owned in a plastic garbage bag, Darryl Travis walked out of the chandeliered lobby of the Crowne Plaza, joining the exodus of Hurricane Katrina refugees evicted from their hotel rooms across the country Tuesday.

More than 4,500 evacuees were expected to check out of their government-paid hotel rooms Tuesday as the Federal Emergency Management Agency began cutting off money to pay for their stays.

Far more people — a total of more than 20,000 storm victims — were given extensions by FEMA until at least next week and possibly as long as March 1, said FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney.

FEMA said it gave people every possible opportunity to request an extension.

Yahoo News

What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.

- Barbara Bush

[xrayzebra]

Hey, I'm all for it. Let him call Castro and Chavez up and get a little of their
cash. I see the Gov wants the feds to split the oil lease money with Louisiana
for the Gulf oil leases. Don't you just love the dimm-o-craps.

[George W Bush]

Hey, I saw that movie when I was on vacation,
it was a good one.

God Bless America

[Oh, Gee!!]

Hey, I saw that movie when I was on vacation,
it was a good one.

God Bless America

Ummm, Mr. president?

That is a window, not a TV screen.

[George W Bush]

Ummm, Mr. president?

That is a window, not a TV screen.

Dammit! I knew it looked familar.
That's when I went site seeing ova there.
I never knew a lake covered the whole town.
Missed that class, I guess.

God Bless America