Sinn Féin, Indeed


First, credit for the title where it belongs--with Dr. Morris, of course.

Today's Pravda-Upon-Hudson has another NOLA update (and definitely take a look at the slide show). While politicians and their hired scumsuckers like Ed Blakely alternately preen and dither when not devoting themselves to gluttony, literal or otherwise, the citizens of New Orleans, on their own, continue the fight to rebuild:

This city has always been known for its eclectic housing styles — Greek Revival, Italianate, Creole. Now emerging is what could be called a posthurricane vernacular, wide-ranging architectural responses to what everyone here refers to simply as the Storm.
(note: The Storm? More like "the flood")

There is what could be called the Defensive style, houses jacked up so high on pilings that they look as if they might teeter over or take wing.

There is also the Defiant style: pristine houses with columned porches painted in storybook pastels. These are surrounded by houses with boarded-up windows and padlocked doors; FEMA trailers still in the front yard; arrested construction because of a shortage of contractors; or empty lots with nothing left but corroding concrete foundations...

Michelle Stroud’s husband took four months off from his job installing security cameras to add a front porch to their new traditional-style home in Lakeview (a badly damaged area in the northwest section of the city), move the entrance from the side to the front to make the house more welcoming and install lighting and fans.

Still, Ms. Stroud, 39, says she gets a little nervous at night when her husband works late, and she is alone with her two daughters. The street is still largely uninhabited, and there are no services nearby. "It’s kind of eerie," she said. "After two years, some houses haven’t even been knocked down. It would be nice to have a gas station or a food store."

Despite Alzheimer’s disease and a post-Katrina divorce, Bob Murphy, 65, managed to renovate his traditional home on Hidalgo Street in Lakeview. "I’m pretty good with a crowbar now -- I know how to knock out Sheetrock," he said. His house’s columns, now longer-lasting tin instead of their former wood, came from Lowe’s; the kitchen countertops and bathroom tile from Home Depot; the cleaning supplies from Wal-Mart. "You name it, we hit it," Mr. Murphy said.

Kathleen Mayer, 42, moved her family into a 1,525-square-foot modular cottage on Vicksburg Street in Lakeview while the 5,100-square-foot stucco-and-brick house that she and her husband are building a few streets away is under construction. Their temporary home, where the Mayers are living with their three children and a dog, is eight feet above the base flood mark. "Better safe than sorry," Ms. Mayer said.

Gilbert St. Germain, 66, raised his home on Louis XIV Street, also in Lakeview, three feet, plowing $300,000 into a slab brick house he paid $58,500 for in 1977. His contractor, Arthur Virgadamo, said New Orleans was getting a bum rap for dragging its heels.

"Everybody says we’re going slow, but how many metropolitan cities have been wiped out?" said Mr. Virgadamo, 51. "I think we’re doing pretty good."

Pretty good is an understatement, if you ask me.