im facing something of a dilema
i wouldnt mind airing out with you
turns out governor pataki here in nyc
has given till aug of 2007
for early responder relief workers in ground zero
to file for workmans comp relief from
illnesses related to 911
for volunteers such as myself
we have to first prove we were there
which is easy
i have the photos, the ID badge
the video tape even a magazine im in
doling out food to the firemen
but then comes the harder part
proving that our ailment is a direct result of ground zero
well
i did not have asthma on sept 1st 2001
and did have asthma on oct 1st 2001
and ever since
seems clear but
but ...not really
then comes the harder part
i can work
i can function
i was working near the hole
on sept 16th and lasted
less then a week
i own my own home
and so far, thank god, can pay the mortgage
not like the many great people who were down there for months on end
and can't walk
can't breathe
can't hold a job
they are like vietnam vets
im more like a vietnam visitor
so i feel torn
nobody asked me go down there
but i had to go
for that i take full responsibility
what im angry about
is that they said the air was safe
they gave us paper masks and said it was fine
and i put on my paper mask
that did nothing
and worked 100 feet from the hole of the north tower
and now i have a prescription for an asthma inhaler
part of me wants to file
part of me things its not right
or not worth the fight
money better spent on the far worse off
i didnt ask to be compensated then
and would never have taken it anyway
but now
well
its been a long
long time
since ive had a nice long breath of air
so im torn
i dont know
i just dont know
as the anniversary approaches
i ask myself
would i do it again
and of course
yes
yes
a thousand times yes
only this time i would get there sooner
stay longer
but honey
i would first go out and buy the most state-of-the-art filtered mask every invented and another 500 or so for my new friends
Did you happen to watch Spike Lee’s?
'WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE' ??
Well I just ran into my next door neighbor Mike the photographer
Who had just gotten back from New Orleans
And when I asked him how it was, he was like “man it was like the hurricane happened yesterday!”
he then demanded i tune in.. to lee
so last night I watched the second half of Spike Lee’s flick
And now im just dumbfounded..
This documentary won’t let you walk past New Orleans..it shoves the faces of the peoples who are American citizens, tax payers, home-owners..now made home-less, still home-less, being called REGUGEES by the media, being broken, being moved about the country..all with the same cry, just shoves those faces into your soul..
“Where is FEMA?”
“Where is George Bush?”
I couldn’t help trying to do some internal math when the question slipped out of my subconscious and into my frontal lobe…”WOULD THE MONEY WE ARE SPENDING TO REBUILD IRAQ, BE ENOUGH TO REBUILD NEW ORLEANS?
The other pesky question is
Just how in the hell can we let these insurance companies get away with not helping these people?
Someone has to step in and re-write the rules of the insurance industry.
The documentary does more then make you sad, it makes you furious.
So much,
So much of all of this could have been prevented..
And
So ok
It wasn’t
But what about now?
Why the hell are these people still pitching tents in the rubble of their former homes?
Should FEMA be the sole culprit to blame,should the too little too late Bush affect be to blame?
Should New Orleans itself be to blame for failing to protect their levees? For failing to have a better system in place?
Now that the people are displaced, the economy ruined, so much of the population of new Orleans perhaps never to return, now the land grabbers and money men step in, to buy up the land, to re-do this city in the size and shape of something maybe a whole lot whiter, maybe a whole lot richer.. who knows…
One things for sure
The New Orleans of old is no more
One can only hope that the new city will retain much of its former glory and spirit
0n a personal note
I kinda loved the part when musician Kanye West says on television "Bush doesn't care about black people." I thought Mike Myers was gonna throw up, or implode or just plain pass out…
You know I’ve been to New Orleans
Twice
Loved it both times
But I do have to say that I never felt less safe then the first time I went to new Orleans
There were some hoods I passed thru in a car that made the Bronx in the 70’s seem like Disney land..
I know there’s a tendency to think that those crime ridden poverty stricken, broken hoods are better off being re-built…but you know even the worst of neighborhoods held peoples lives, their legacies, their heritage, their culture, their blood.. I sure did want to see those hoods get some help and some clean up, but not to be quite literally washed away..
It also pissed me the hell off when I learned that this country has been leaching off Louisiana for years and years for oil that makes up a huge ass portion of what we use and we give them nada, nyet, for this.. shit honeys at least give those folks a fee, let that fee rebuild lives and homes and hearts..
One thing I did see
Is that in the worst of times
New Orleans folks banded together black and white
Maybe we’ll never know if racism had a part in the late, late, late show of aid to Katrina victims
Maybe we’ll never know if the finger should point to federal, state or local or D all of the above..
But what we do know is this is a huge pile of shit
And while there are plenty of people lined up to make payola off it
There are scarce few lined up with shovels..
Ding dong the witch is dead
The wicked old witch is dead
I mean king
I mean emperor
I mean
President?
Well whatever
It was nice to hear that the baby bush finally got slapped into some kind of behavior modification
I think they should have crated him
And rolled up a newspaper but that’s just me
I did kinda love the quote though, that judge musta been a sucker for reading his words in press cause they were meant for headlines..
Here’s the blurb in case you missed it, though I doubt that you did..
**Noting "there are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," a federal judge ruled Thursday that President Bush had exceeded his authority when he allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant.**
I know I have some readers who feel the Bushie should be allowed to spy on us at whim to save our lives..from the terrorists out there…but I say once, you start to erode the Constitution to protect its people, you start to create exactly what we’re fighting against.. loss of freedom…dicatatorship…the whole shebang..
Well I guess the court felt the same way I do that no president, not even one who rides ponies has the right to “inherent power” to violate congress and constitutional laws of the first and fourth amendment.
I say the emperor is naked! I mean the king is de-throned! I mean oh whatever…
well dears
i must say
flying on thursday aug 10th
was noooo picnic
but thankfully we left
right in the middle of the shit
and not after
so we waited but not for hours
actually the rule were changing while we were on line
when we got on line
i had to give up my lotions
by the time i got to the continental babe
i had to give up my lipstick
and chapstick
so i guess they thought
i might stab someone with my
tube of lipstick
then inside i got a soda
which they also made me give up
but honey
after watching the towers crumble on 911
i really
and truly dont mind
turning in my
plum frost lip enhancer
now in san fran
and off to see the Monet exhibit
im so cultural
im even impressed with myself
meanwhile
a few things
as the cease fire countown happens
i just hope
israel wont
once again
be the ONLY one to play by the rules
and get it reamed up their ass for doing so
with the AIDS summit
id just like to say
bill gates
you are the classiest rich dude in the universe
and lastly
mel gibson
you're short
your hair has looked weird for years
and you aint no friend of mine
thats all
oh
one little p.s
to the great miha-la
and melly poo
thanks for sharing my week of san fran licious
can i just say that if there really was such a thing as karma
my baby JD would still be purring and eating and happy, healthy and ridiculously silly, while mel gibson would be a few feet under... a kosher delicatessan..
but in honor of my lost little kitty i shall not tarnish myself with more bla bla on mel gibson.. except to say mad max...has really opened his fat trap too far now..
but its just a bit too small in the spectrum of anti-semitism
especially with whats going on in israel..
my family FYI is still in israel
my brother says they can hear the bombs
but they are ok..
heres where i stand
condoleeza rice
the U.N.
everyone with an opinion
can say what they will
but how the hell do you really negotiate peace
with Hezbollah
its the same shit
negotiating peace with hammas
hezbollah
heil hitler
all the hellacious h's
their mission
to see every jew floating face down in the dead sea
thats a hard partner to have in peace
but i do feel for the innocent civilians in lebanon
who like the innocents of every war
are suffering terribly
and i also feel
for the endless, endless, endless, strife of israel
they get a decade of two of relative peace
but always another demon comes..
never long to enjoy the quiet moments
i do pray for peace for israel
for lebanon
for all us all..
and i do pray that the innocent people of lebanon
the innocent people of palestine
will rise up
and push away their terrorist leaders
and demand peace
not blood
but until then
israel will defend itself
how can it do anything else?
because to cease defending itself
will mean certain devastation
in the end
israel stands, this tiny little country in a vast sea of terror
that never
ever
ever seems to end
