Katrina

What a horrific nightmare. I am so sorry for all those affected.

I really feel for all of those people who are still in the hell that was New Orleans, those 100,000 who were, by and large, transportation-less and too poor to get out. Those who were abandoned by the rich and by the government, left to deal with the storm on their own.

Why wasn't there a plan in place to get the poor out in the face of such a horrible storm? Authorites knew that 100k lacked transportation and barely lived paycheck to paycheck, and they knew that New Orleans could be completely devastated by a hurricane. There wasn't much time to organize an evacuation, but there was enough time for the 1 million residents-of-means to make for high ground. It's just sad.

And now, it seems that the media is really emphasizing the "looting" going on (oh, if you're black it's looting, but if you're white, it's finding, by the way). Though the media is really harping on reports of non-essential consumer goods being stolen, the vast majority of photos I've seen is of people salvaging food. Of course, the non-essentials would likely be trashed after floodwaters recede anyhow. But is this really the emphasis we want to put on this disaster? Sure, there are dead bodies and people still needing to be rescued, but the real concern is keeping that poor black person from getting a pair of shoes? 'Cause we all know, the capitalist ethic is what really needs protecting down there right now.

Oh, it just pisses me off. Guess I should stop being a hypocrite and just turn commie, maybe.

And then you have to look at the forces that came together to make the recovery from this worse than it could have been. In 1995, Congress funded a federal project in southern Louisiana to protect from flooding by building pumping stations and levees. Unfortunately, the current government did not see that as a priority:

"On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune:'It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.'"

Couple that with the fact that, from what I've read, 40-60% of Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard equipment (including rescue boats and helicopters) is in Iraq, and Bush's pet war is costing Americans far more than just dollars.

There are a few AP moms in Little Rock with family members who lost everything, so the AP group here is getting some essentials together to help them start over. I found a few things we don't need and am going to take them over later today.

It's just a very, very sad situation.