- Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.
- Raise the New Orleans levees with the soil removed from the moat.
- Relocate those damn Florida alligators to the moat.
Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a “symbol of a bumbling bureaucracy” so far beyond repair that it should be scrapped, senators said Thursday.
Actually, I could’ve saved them a lot of time and money wasted on congressional committees by making this one recommendation: Don’t reside on land that is beneath sea level!
Ever gone to the theatre and watched a film so powerful that your grip on the armrest left your fingerprints and embedded such a strong image in your mind that hours later you couldn’t stop thinking about it? If so, you’ll understand my state of mind after I took a trip over to Biloxi/Gulfport to see what Katrina left in her wake. You’ve seen it in the newspaper, you’ve seen it on the internet and you’ve seen it on the television, but you could never understand the extent of this event until you’ve seen it in person. Just last summer, I was in the area and was awed by the beauty and serenity of the beachfront and the Victorian and plantation-style homes. Now, the drive from Biloxi to where the road is closed (before reaching Long Beach?) is like taking a tour of Hiroshima in the late 40s.
I was able to shake free of the trance to take a few pictures, but like I said, seeing it here is nothing compared to being there in person. So, why aren’t there any pictures other than some landscape-type shots? Well, although there may not be much more than foundations left to many of the homes, I felt it to almost be a violation of a resident’s privacy to display a picture of what used to be their living room, bedroom, etc. Time permitting, I would like to return for an extended visit. It is somewhat awkward though. I do feel guilty of “gawking/rubber-necking”, but it seems that New Orleans has received most of the spotlight here and the Mississippi gulf coast has gone mostly forgotten. I do admire the residents for their resolution and strong chin.
…and I only *thought* I was shellshocked when Ivan hit here (Pensacola.)
Oddity: I noticed that many of the Hwy 90 road signs were upside down. Then it hit me: This is the residents’ way of saying “06 will be a better year”.
BTW, the buffet at the Palace is still kick-butt.
I awoke to temps in the upper 40s this moring. Not quite cool enough to break out the long pants yet (maybe tomorrow.)
Meanwhile, a cat. 3 hurricane (Wilma) is slamming the other end of the state.
Tropical Depression 24. The NHC is calling for this to become an intense hurricane over the next few days. So, what’s the next storm name letter? W? We should call this one Hurricane WTF.
Mayor Negligence? Gov Boo Hoo? Are you paying attention here?
Josef Goebbels would have been happy with much of the mainstream media in the past few weeks since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Goebbels, for those of you too young to know, was Hitler’s propaganda minister. He is credited with creating the concept of The Big Lie. The idea was that if you tell a lie big enough often enough, people will believe it.
First Ivan, then Dennis, then Katrina. This is what my backyard looks like.
OTOH, perhaps there’s a market here for filming a "Blair Witch" type movie.
Even those on the left have a lucid thought here and there:
The fetid aroma of hindsight – Los Angeles Times
Obviously — obviously in hindsight, that is — we should have spent the money to strengthen the New Orleans levees. President Clinton should have done it. Presidents Bush the Elder and Reagan should have done it. As Tim Noah notes in Slate, warnings about the perilous New Orleans levees go back at least to Fanny Trollope in 1832. In fact, the one president who is pretty much in the clear on this is our current Bush – not because he did anything about the levees but because even if he had started something, it probably wouldn’t have been finished yet.
Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.
A short, but powerful piece about history, unity and what could’ve been…
Disasters, says the cliche, usually bring out the best in people. But the cliche doesn’t take into account the current generation, our current understanding of how government works, our current understanding of our place in the world or even our current understanding of right and wrong.
