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Brad Pitt and Bill Clinton Break Ground for “Make it Right” Project
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27 Responses to “Brad Pitt and Bill Clinton Break Ground for “Make it Right” Project”
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So are they just going to give away those houses, free and clear, to the prior residents of the Ninth Ward?
Residents must have owned a home, have clear title to their land where home to be built, and contribute funds such as from La Going Home program, insurance, savings,and such, average family will contribute 1/2 of the cost of their new home.
Homes are not free and many people, mostly taxpayers for many years, are now living in toxic FEMA trailer travel 3 years after Katrina.
Big Willie will be sharing a cigar with Angie before this is all over.
Um, few, if any, of the locals living in the Ninth Ward could afford to pony up half the cost of a swanky new home. I’m guessing many of those people inherited the house they were living in, and could not afford to move anywhere else.
This isn’t exactly a Habitat for Humanity deal is it?
Poor soul, I think he means well. But I also think he is doing this to clean his image after Brangelina. Unfortunately, I think it is sullied forever. No amount of adoption, charity or whatever can take away what they did to Aniston.
Personally, I am more disgusted with the way they tried to demonise that poor girl after all this. Especially their fans. She did no wrong, and yet they have called her all sort of names. I didn’t care much for the split but what came after damaged Brad Pitt forever. I was a fan once but now I just go, yeah.. yeah yeah pussy whipped wimp. I now see him as a mean and manipulative person. But may be Angelina has made him like that since she has always beem mean self centred and manipulative.
Any way he is approaching fifty and will be off the scene. Good riddance.
lara, what is your problem? You act as if you were married to him and then divorced. Jen has said that they did not want the same things in life, and Sheryl Crow her friend has just said that Jen wanted out and dumped Brad. So again what is your problem? Jen did not want to be married to him and took action. Why blame anyone? They have moved on and it was their business not yours or mine. Brad is helping people who their government has abandoned, that is a very good thing. Get a grip.
They allegedly had an affair. So what. If anyone is being insulting about Aniston, it’s her own fans insisting she’s a miserable wretch whose only real purpose in life is to play second fiddle to a man. Thank goodness the lady herself has the dignity and class not to pander to the delusions of her alleged “fans”.
As HNF has said the post is about something of actual importance and far outweighs nonsensical mutterings on bedhopping. Anyway – that’s the last I’ll say on the matter here.
But who knew Steve Bing could be such a philanthropist?!?!
What gg says about the level of contribution that the original residents could provide, that is a fair point. Assuming that these are to be highly energy efficient, perhaps the idea is to reduce running charges and thereby allowing the residents to have modest mortgage?
Although, has the economy of New Orleans recovered enough for anyone to have mortgages in these straitened times?
Just looking at the website now. Good practical approach to house design, with decent low-energy water reducing technology. AND in using native non-invasive plant species.
The only thing I question is, although they’re giving a lot of time to non-toxic materials, some features, like the kitchenette look to be bog-standard MDF as they’ve not mentioned that they’re to be made of regionally produced timber. I know they can’t fit everything in, but if the point is to minimise toxicity in the environment, reducing uPVC and MDF is the most logical way to go.
I think the thing that frustrates me about the “triangle” is this idea that people are one dimensional. All three of them have their flaws but I’d take all of them who have a decent amount talent over the hundreds of crappy ass vapid little actors and actresses who make one successful tv show and suddenly our asses are being stalked by their face on every damn magazine, makeup commercial and reality show.
Mischa Barton, Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus anyone?
“This isn’t exactly a Habitat for Humanity deal is it?”
Habitat for Humanity homes aren’t free, either–the people who move into them have to repay a loan and have to work on the house during construction.
Yes I know – at my office we do real estate closings for Habitat For Humanity every month or so. I get to see their elated faces go by my desk every time.
But upon first glance at the qualifications, this deal doesn’t seem as good as a HFH deal. I have been in the Ninth Ward a few times before the hurricanes. Thinking back on what I have seen, I really don’t know where these poor people are going to go – most of them can’t go back home if the new neighborhood requires there to be a breadwinner in the family, frankly speaking. Many of them are too old, or have physical reasons they can’t work. It’s a real problem. Intrinsically, I have a problem with hale and hearty people having multitudes of babies, accepting handouts, but there are those who really have no choice, and they must be looked after somehow.
What this has absolutely nothing to do with, is “brangelina”. Please. Nobody gives a shite about that crap anymore.
Given the line of work I’m in, I’ve a little insight into why this is.
On a superficial level it would sound better if these super-green homes were given gratis back to the people of the area, without imposing a financial restriction on those who were traditionally marginalised.
However, while immediate ownership of the house is in the hands of the individual families, what about longterm “ownership’ of the community. By giving the community a “hand up not a hand out” it tries to ensure that the houses aren’t bought up by a few wealthy individuals or development companies, for speculative or rental profit, thereby diluting an already fractured community (if you forgive me mixing my metaphors).
I’m not a legal expert, especially not in American property law, (gg, I know you know a bit more about this than me, so please put me straight where I go wrong) I am aware that property can be sold or signed over in a covenant, but perhaps it was thought that for 150 houses, this was a little clumsy? A loan or payment system then means that the overall project can put in a disincentive for development speculation? In Ireland, some councils have “affordable housing schemes”, where it is agreed that if the house is sold within 20 years, the seller still only gets what they bought the house for, regardless of the market value.
I’m assuming that there are other regeneration schemes going on in the New Orleans area, and this is meant to compliment them by providing high-quality efficient homes at a reasonable cost, rather than simply building a load of low-mid quality drab units, which could be provided almost “free” Theoretically these could phyisically cheapen the city more, but are also bad value by requiring demolition after 20-30 years and putting a greater strain on an already beleagured community?
Clinton and Pitt are doing a good thing here. And there’s still people who have to be critical and pessimistic. Are you building a house for anyone? Free or not?
Being from Louisiana, close to the New Orleans area let me tell you how this is going to work. The prior residents have been living in FEMA trailors or have been having their rent paid by HUD so they are currently being taken care of. As for the toxic trailers, that is something that lawyers have taken a small mountain and made a large mountain out of. We own a camper/trailer and have never had any problems with it, and people have been camping in trailers for YEAR with NO problems.
As for paying half of the house, they will not have to come up with their OWN money. If they had insurance that will pay half, although most didn’t. If they had no insurance the federal government will provide funds through the Louisiana Road Home Program. People without insurance will get the FULL value of their homes if theya are staying in the area and a portion of the valus if they are not. Now this sounds like a grear program, but it has had MANY problems mostly due to the previous state government. Funds are now starting to get to the people, two years ahter the program started, so they should be able to pay their half.
Let me also say that there are plenty of people here who have profited from all this. My husband works with at least 10 people who have made money by loosing their houses. They made money through both insurance and road home funds and are now better off then they were before the storm. My brother-in-laws sister and her husband had many rental properties and no insurance, they thought they were going to be broke but ahter road home and other programs, they have fixed up all the properties and bought a Motorcoach and are now traveling around the country.
Great country we live in huh????
wow. Sounds really sticky. Real estate and building speculation is out of my league. I do estate planning. But it all sounds fraught with problems. I can only say I am thankful I haven’t been ousted by my home due to floods. God bless them. I understand it’s rather dangerous in New Orleans these days due to a degree of lawlessness still prowling the streets. No jokes about the prior Big Easy Payola …
Kinda puts paid to my theory doesn’t it? But hey, at least it’s good quality, well-designed and attractive housing that’s being planned for in this case.
Nowhere could escape the devastation of such a storm, but hopefully by having a “green” slant (plenty of planting and reduced hard surfacing to cut down on rainwater runoff) it might alleviate any periodic flooding and act as an example that the poor deserve good quality housing, that is economical and minimises impacts on its environment.
Well I guess some people give a shit about it wintnessed by the comments before you stated that nobody gives a shit. So your powers of deduction fail you. As long as Angie the witch keeps acting like a witch people care. Who the heck puts a fake belly on the day she is supposed to go to the party that Jen is attending and a day before the acadamy awards. She is an attention seeking whore. Her actions alone keep it front and center and to amke matters worse she has her brother try to paint Jen as some sort of pathetic human that couldn’t stand seeing her. Narcissitic much? Her bump is much smaller yesterday in No. Now how does that work?
I don’t know why it surprises anyone that Brad is still getting grief over the Angelina, Jennifer, cheating scandal. The fact that Bill Clinton pops up in this thread is just a reminder about how long crap like that can follow you. LOL
Having said that, I really feel that Brad has redeemed himself alot. And not mostly by activities like this, but in my eyes by the excellent fathering skills he has shown.
No matter what a shit I thought he was for what he did, we can all fall well short of what other people expect of us as well as what we expect from ourselves. He’s just trying to move on and is seemingly trying to do it with some compassion for other people. And I can’t fault him for that.
I can’t help but see Angelina eventually dumping him though. And I will honestly feel sorry for him when it happens,not to mention the kids. She just a human being too, but I just don’t think she can live without high drama in her life and I don’t see life with Brad providing that for her.
Ceenitall or indeed homesnotfree, could you explain what by “toxic trailers”? Is it a problem with the mobile homes? or a problem with the infrastructure in the area where they’re located?
Mairead -The material the trailers are made of give off formaldehyde, a very potent carcinogin. The trailers sat for years in an open filed and are quickly deteriorating.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
nopeno, you are insane. Angelina is 5 months pregnant and that is reality. There is no fake “belly”, there was no party to attend as Brad and Angelina were packing up to move to Texas for Brad’s new movie which they did on 2/24, and they paid a fee in support of the fundraiser. They never intended to go and you need to stop reading and believing lies created by tabloids. For however long they last Brad and Angelina have created a very loving stable family which is their priority and they are good people who extend themselves to help others. You are uneducated and ignorant as well as insane. All sane rational people can see how devoted Brad and Angelina are to each other and to their children.
Mairead
“sat in an open field”. The formaldehyde contamination was so great that FEMA staff would not enter most of the trailers without a mask and sat on the knowledge of the toxic situation for months. Sad state of affairs it is. Brad and all the other private citizens trying to make a difference are doing what the Fed government refuses to do.
And the idiots who come here screaming about what other people do in their private lives need to shut up and mind their own business.
Yeah, some students had to volunteer to clean up after Katrina because the government dropped the ball a long time ago and needs that money to bewidow and orphanise brown people in Iraq.
WTG Bush!!
topic …
Thanks for clearing that up for me HNF. Which is precisely why I was wondering about the materials to be used to fit out the proposed homes (paint and flooring aside) as MDF (medium density fibre) is used extensively in kitchen and bedroom units. (even though wooden kitchen units might have timber doors and frames, the shelves and liners will still probably be made from MDF.
It’s a very useful product, but I would use it advisedly.
A form of HDF is even being sold as an alternative to wood/aluminium/uPVC for windows and doors. But the problem I have with that is the same as I have with uPVC, what is the long-term effects of UV radiation heat and humidity on the glues?
From what i know, it is the breakdown of glue that releases the formaldihyde. I’ve only once come across the effects of formaldihyde (within the accepted normal rates) and that was in a new building where one of the air-conditioning units appeared to be breaking down the plasterboard and fibreboard around it. It wasn’t pleasant, especially in the cubicles where the faulty duct was – a strong smell could be noted and headaches and sore throats appeared quite quickly.
Although what the cause of it is open to debate possibly, but considering caravans are designed to be fairly well sealed, adequate ventilation could be the problem.
The new houses proposed on this project appear to be well ventilated, with 1 1/2 to double-height living rooms, so hopefully once they move back, the problems will be dealt with.
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http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/popfiction/index.jsp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Iw4qvy8jQ
Pitt’s Make It Right project in the Lower 9th Ward was the site for the Clinton Global Initiative University, a three-day program that kicked off Friday. OK!
Personally I don’t think that Mr. Handsome has received enough accolades for his humanitarian efforts. In my opinion a lot of celebrity do-gooders are totally phony and engage in so called good deeds merely for positive publicity. I have to say that I don’t think that George is one of the phonies out there in the world of celbrity do-gooders. I admire what he is doing for the Haitian people. I wish more celebrities were as real as he is when it comes to helping out those less fortunate in the world. So kudos to George and his desire to make this world a better place.