Tags for this video have been changed from 'hbo, treme, john, goodman, george, bush, katrina, hurricaine' to 'hbo, treme, john, goodman, george, bush, katrina, hurricane' - edited by calvados

Well-put! Thanks a lot for the clarification, timtoner. Your comment reminded me of a book I read recently: "Playing Indian," which tells a kind of history of this country as seen through the ways in which people have 'played out' the 'role' or adopted the 'image' of first nation people.

Anyway, your point is well-taken. I do think that one of the really complicated components of this scene is the fact that we encounter two instances of 'tourism' in it: one is a sort of 'cultural' tourism, while the other could have no better name than 'disaster' tourism (the latter of course being problematic in perhaps much more obvious ways).

>> ^timtoner:

This might be a touchy point, but giving this video a 'native' 'american' tag is a bit of a stretch, and 'first' 'nation' is right out. The New Orleans Indians are a wonderful adaptation of African culture to a new setting. They adopt the name and general aesthetic as gratitude for all that the Aboriginal Americans did for runaway slaves during the antebellum period. The elaborateness of their costumes came in direct response to Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show passing through the area in the 1880s.
Still, a powerful scene.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'treme, hbo, new, orleans, katrina, hurricaine, first, nation, native, american' to 'treme, hbo, new, orleans, katrina, hurricane, first, nation, native, american' - edited by kulpims

>>^roughy
I think she said we have more hurricaines due to "warming ocean temperatures" not "global warming."


She actually said:
"..the fact that there are more and more intense storms in the Gulf Coast is actually related to some things that we're doing. It's because of warming ocean temperatures and something that nobody's really talking about for some reason, but yeah there is a connection between warming ocean temperatures, something called global warming, and actually the substance that Republicans want to drill for off the coasts and which Sarah Palin wants to drill for in Alaska. So these aren't just completely random acts and they're not interested in that kind of security." [my emphasis]

I have no problem believing that warmer ocean temperatures leads to a larger number of and/or more intense storms. However she leaves no doubt that she attributes the warmer ocean temperatures to human activity. She uses the words "warming ocean temperatures" and "global warming" right next to each other in the same sentence.

The problem now is that I feel a little bit like I've backed myself into a corner defending the critics of anthropogenic global warming. In actual fact I find that I am yet to be convinced one way or the other. I like to think of myself as being relatively well informed and yet the more I try to research the issues the more I feel like my head is spinning.

The whole topic is extremely complicated and hard to comprehend, even for climate scientists, and yet the media is full of personalities and presenters and news programs and even adverts that seem so certain that they know that the case for AGW has been proved. The constant repetition of the mantra of global warming has an aura of "truthiness" about it. If you repeat it often enough eventually everyone will believe it.

I would like to believe too. I keep waiting for an epiphany to happen. Waiting for the moment when I can finally say "Aha, now I get it. Now I see what everyone else could see."
But really I get the feeling that most people don't really "see it" at all. They just believe what they're told.

I think she said we have more hurricaines due to "warming ocean temperatures" not "global warming."

And there seems to be some support for that claim:

...2005 was the most active hurricane season on record, and Atlantic water temperatures were the warmest, about 1.4 degrees above normal. That hurricane season set a new high with 28 storms and 13 hurricanes. Seven of the hurricanes were major storms.

In 1971, when the water temperatures were the coolest, there were 13 storms and six hurricanes, including one major one.

The index of overall hurricane activity was more than twice as high in 2005 as it was in 1971.

The scientists who have linked global warming to stronger storms said the study makes sense, and is, if anything, just repeating and refining what they have already said.

USAToday.com

Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones have always bedeviled coasts, but global warming may be making matters worse. Sea level is rising and will continue to rise as oceans warm and glaciers melt. Rising sea level means higher storm surges, even from relatively minor storms, which increases coastal flooding and subsequent storm damage along coasts. In addition, the associated heavy rains can extend hundreds of miles inland, further increasing the risk of flooding.

The Union of Concerned Scientists

Below sea level...once the hurricaines render it uninhabitable, the U.S. those who control the Government will perhaps secure this important port city for their own....
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/