Oh goodie - another MSM (mainstream media) article on Bush's budget cuts on the Army Corps of Engineers: [link]
WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.
That has delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.
For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
Because of the shortfalls, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq, the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.
....
"I'm not saying it wouldn't still be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded, there would be less flooding than you have," said Michael Parker, a former Republican Mississippi congressman who headed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from October 2001 until March 2002, when he was ousted after publicly criticizing a Bush administration proposal to cut the corps' budget.
Gee - someone warns about the dangers of Bush policy, and Bush fires him. I'm getting a sense of deja vu....
And of course, when the Earth is destroyed by some cataclysmic disaster, the aliens will be telling us, "Dudes. You chose to live on such a dangerous planet. And you just expect us to save you now?"
Would there be a difference between asking the aliens to rescue us, and asking them to rebuild for us, in the same dangerous spot? In practice, I'm not against the gov't paying to rebuild New Orleans, but in theory, I understand the objections.
It's probably too much to hope for, but maybe this will wake up people to the idea that maybe guns shouldn't be so readily available that looters can go arm themselves at the nearest Walmart in the event of a disaster. And I say that as a person who's about as comfortable with guns as you can be without having to turn in your liberal card.
Interesting...
10:34 A.M. - Hoss: Stories of armed, roving gangs going around town looting every business they come across have been overexaggerated by the national media.
I'm not against the gov't paying to rebuild New Orleans, but in theory, I understand the objections.
I think there is a debate there about should we rebuild in such a vunerable place (I think federal aid should be given to people, but how to rebuild I think is debatable), but I think it is massively uncool to talk about cutting off aid to people while the disaster is unfolding.
New Orleans should be able to withstand a catagory 2 or 3 hurricane. There was a study on making NO safe from a catagory 5, but it was shelved due to Bush budget cuts.
So yeah, NO is vulnerable. Politics made it more vulnerable. Politics could make it much less vulnerable.
Excellent editorial: [link]
If there is land there when the waters receed, people will build. Better to help them rebuild and do it properly.
There will be land there once the breaches are fixed and the water pumped out, there won't be naturally. I think the case to rebuild there is pretty good, but I do think it is a resonable debate.
I woke up an hour early this morning with a stomachache and hungry. That is now gone. During my workout, I developed a headache. I took medication, and it's now gone.
I do, however, still have the aura. I can't think straight. And I have a 9:30 uncancellable meeting that I'm running. And a client with production issues pinging me directly (I'm not in support!) that I can't brush off because support isn't actually responding, and I need to shield the technical members of the team from the business users.
Meanwhile, people who promised me time-sensitive documents haven't delivered, and I can't even get one sentence urgent answers from people who have read my e-mail.
Today is not love.
