Talkity Talk Talk McTalkerson

Marigold and have contributed to the Hurricane relief cause in our own little way. We have gone over on our cell phone minutes by letting these homeless refugees talk them away. We have been doing so much talking and emailing to relatives and friends and around the country I really am pretty sick of talking about it. But I can't help but watch the news and look at the horrible pictures and read the heartrending stories. What is especially deplorable is the fact that this was preventable. Not Katrina, but the terrible aftermath. Within a week of moving to New Orleans I knew that the levee system was only designed for a cat3 storm. I have seen many charts and maps detailing the carnage that would be New Orleans if a real storm hit it directly. I have been there when a typical thunderstorm floods the streets and backs up the pumps. In fact, Tropical Storm Bill (June 29th -July 2nd) flooded the building where I worked. There was a foot of standing water throughout the building, and that was just for a tropical storm. When Bush said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated the breach of the levees." I got pissed. That is not ignorance. If he is acting in the capacity of a president, he should be nothing less than at the very least generally informed. He has had high level meetings with experts. Even I would have told him this had he asked me. Therefore he is lying. Many of the officials, "Don't have a clue." I think they are spinning the situation in order to cover their own asses. Not that they don't want to help, but that they only now know the full capacity of their incompetence. This doesn't take an act of Congress. It takes clear leadership and swift action. Perhaps some shock and awe to win the hearts and minds of those poor people. I don't blame them for "looting." How else are they going to survive. If you have never been to New Orleans or the surrounding area you don't know how incredibly hot it can get. When my brother visited us in 2003 he called it "uninhabitable." I know I am just repeating other opinions, but all this talk is pissing me off. Poor people are really suffering. In New Orleans that means Black people. Any denial of racism by neglect is racist. Count how many white people you see in the picture above. Now count the black people.

In Related News . . .
It looks like my In-laws' houses in Slidell might not have suffered flood damage! Tree and wind damage might the be biggest of their concerns.