[StBernard] Shipping interests pushing for MR-GO

[Westley Annis]

Actually, I did notice he the addresses - I was just making a point.  The
real joke in all this is when you compare all the tenants along France Road
who use the MRGO, these guys are the "small potoatoes".  Vulcan and New
Orleans Cold Storage (NOCS) come before them....not to mention the biggest -
Maersk-Sealand.  Funny how we're not hearing from them.  Hell, you're not
even hearing anything come from Boysie Bollinger - at least not yet.

Oh, wait a minute....the guy at NOCS some months back did make a public
statement about possibly keeping the MRGO open to deep draft vessels and I
pounded him back then for it.  My response back then was the same as
now.....take a spin off the anti-tabacco commercials: acquire the same
number of manequins as number of people who died in St. Bernard and New
Orleans as a result of the MRGO.  Wrap each in a sheet, sneak onto the
parking lots these companies along France Road, then lie the hundreds of
them along side one another.  Trust me, it will bring the point home -
vividly!  And can you imagine the media attention that would garner - media
attention from around the world.

Look, I'm as much for promoting and developing big business and industry as
the next guy...but, no amount of revenue and jobs is worth the risk of
losing one life.  In our case, it's no longer a probability or possibility -
Katrina made it a proven fact.  So, Mr. Kearney believes we can build water
control structures that will keep St. Bernard safe during the next Katrina,
does he?  I'll tell ya what.....I'll go along with his idea if he promises
to ride out the next Katrina level storm in someone's home (single story
home) in St. Bernard.  Do you think he would be so confident of his plan
he'd be willing to wager his life on it?

- John Scurich