Heading: The Wild Palms
I stayed away from New Orleans because I knew it was dangerous and one of the reasons I live where I live in Carrboro North Carolina is actually because it is about as safe a geographic location as you are ever going to find.
I was aware that New Orleans was a dangerous place to party, and not a good place to get lost in. My sister had friends, a couple, who stopped in a gas station parking lot to get directions and were both shot dead.
I’m the sort of person who watches trailers for movies and dosen’t go to the movie from the little they know about themselves and what they like.
Sometimes I can be wrong. My wife got me to go to Willie Wonka and the Chockolate Factory, and I really enjoyed it and got some laughs out of it, and recommend it to adults and children alike.
Most of what I know about New Orleans comes from my reading of William Faulkner. The other that I know comes from Scientific American.
What William Faulkner said in his poem, Absolam Absolam was that the great tragedy of life is to live according to incorrect ideals. He liked airplanes and horses and rode horses inspite of the pain. Dean his brother crashed and died in the plane William gave him.
Well, there are worse ways to die.
Flying machines are useful and as far as private or military goals it is well known that speed and reach are vital keys to success.
I wrote awhile back about my belief that there was still a place for large seaplanes in the armed forces.
It would really have made more sense if all of the people who needed to evacuate and didn’t have cars were sent to the airport, which ideally would have connections to all other transport such as train and bus service.
I suppose this is one of the reasons I am so depressed that the town area I live in is failing to maintain our little airport and why I support the FAA and its policy of encouraging a multiplicity of airports of all sizes and wish that the NASAland on Eubanks was combined with the Landfill to create a small state of the art airport.
Now it is sad that Transcendia is not so strong as to really do much monetarily for the refugees of New Orleans.
Transcendians are anarchists in the Godwin definition of anarchy and those anarchists took care and take care of themselves because they are educated and practical and do not expect others to take care of them. Their distrust of others is practical and not at all malicious. They know that as my evil friend said, "Civilization is about three meals thick."
As the founder and main proponent of an independent confederation of international airports I could see benefits from Transcendian airports in all port cities for there is obviously a failure of too much dependance on helicopters.
I found it sad that the airlines didn’t fly in and out of New Orleans airport till the last possible minute and have not been apparently flying people out. I do not know all the particulars and really don’t know where the airport for New Orleans is, but it seems to me from where I sit that it may well have made more sense to direct people to it than anywhere else.
When New Orleans is rebuilt is would be best rebuilt with a fully integrated transportation infrastructure for I don’t really care how well mankind builds, nothing he builds is immune from destruction by the forces of nature.
If this teaches me anything about flood disaster tools for rescue I would stockpile inflatable power boats and raise all train tracks on top of levees that were built so as to replicate the inside systems of large ships which can close off flooded compartments and connnected to the airport.
As I write this with the tv buzzing behind me and watch another helicopter winch line rescue of one person I think that it would be a good time for inflatable boats to be dropped wherever people are still trapped in flooded areas.
I am going to sign off now and try and get someone on the phone with this suggestion now.
A letter from Russell