Why is it so hot in here, and how did I get in this handbasket?

Starting to feel like the Roman empire around here. And I'm not just saying that because I recently watched
the excellent history channel documentary on the engineering feats of Rome. Just like that great empire stretched itself so thin that it eventually began to fall apart from the inside, the Hurricane Katrina disaster has shown how unprepared (or unwilling?) the government is to handle problems at home. If American is turning into Rome, then President Bush is our
Nero.

I haven't blogged very much this week, because I have been too enraged and riveted (at the same time) by the drama going on down south. Hooray for Kanye West for having the cojones to say what was on many black people's minds already.

My fellow bloggers have done a great job of discussing the tragedy throughout the week, so I'll just recap with some of the most interesting, appalling and exciting things I've read/seen as this unfolded:

-This disaster has prompted the largest displacement of African-Americans since the Great Migration, and the greatest mass movement of Americans since the Civil War. The social and cultural impact of this movement cannot be measured. Outside of other cities in Louisiana, Houston has been the primary landing point of most of the survivors (I refuse to call them refugees). If a sizeable percentage of those transplants remain, expect Houston to become the next great American city, in terms of size, culture, and food. Laugh if you want. You'll see. New Orleans has always culturally been one of America's most iconic international cities (along with New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago). What has held it back was its stagnant economy, based almost entirely on tourism. Houston has always been an underrated economic powerhouse (the fourth largest city in America), with a diverse economy that includes medicine, aerospace, manufacturing and computer technology. Houston differs from the rest of Texas with its bayou-like weather, very similar to New Orleans. The initial going will be very rough, but I expect the confluence of New Orleans culture and Houston economy to have a miraculous result on Texas' largest city.

-In Baton Rouge, LA, where a huge number of disaster victims fled, gun sales have increased five-fold.

-FEMA released a study in 2001 citing the three most pressing disaster possibilities for the US. They were 1) a large terrorist attack on New York City, 2) New Orleans being flooded due to a levee breach, and 3) a major earthquake in San Francisco. Amazing that two of those three things have happened. I wonder how gun sales are looking in San Fran these days?

-The
surveys began, and the results were expectedly confusing and infuriating. New Orleans WILL recover. It's every American's responsibility to make certain it does. I'm tired of hearing about how we shouldn't rebuild a city built below sea level. Should we not rebuild cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, etc.) built on major earthquake fault lines? What about homes built on land prone to yearly forest fires and mudslides (like most of the hillside communities in and around LA?). Should we have built cities in the middle of the desert (Vegas, Phoenix) that require a monumental human effort simply to pump in clean drinking water? People should stop with their cynicism. Amsterdam, one of Europe's most culturally and economically important cities, is in a similar situation as New Orleans. The difference? Their levees and pumps are regularly maintained and WORK. The budget for them hasn't been slashed by 80% in recent years. And while I've got my pundit hat on, the survey that I found most disturbing was one on the television news where more than 60% of respondents said no one at FEMA should be fired because of Katrina. Excuse me? So, let's say you work at Wal-Mart and you neglect to show up for work for FIVE DAYS. On the sixth day, you come strolling in and say you got there as fast as you could. Guess what your ass would be? That's right: FIRED!

-Reports coming out of New Orleans are that the death toll may be far below initial estimates. First bit of good news all week!

-Second bit of good news just in: head of FEMA fired. Told ya!