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.

Oh my:

US won't accept hurricane relief from Canada
Kos reports that the US is refusing Canadian aid for Katrina and the flood.

"A specialized urban search and rescue team from Vancouver will be joining the rescue efforts in Louisiana in the wake of hurricane Katrina."

Not so fast, elite Canadian rescuers! You can't just fly down here and start saving lives, not while the Department of Homeland Security's in charge. Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm.

[link]

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.

Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level

So what they're saying is we'd be CRAZY not to accept their help? Sounds about right to me...

Howell Raines on New Orleans and the Bush administration's response: [link]

That said, blankets have a lot of uses. People in shock need them. They can be torn and used as substitutes for bandages, slings, tourniquets, ropes, etc. They can be used to carry stuff. People need something to lie on. They can be strung up for a modicum of privacy. I can see blankets right there after water, anti-biotics, and food.

OK, that's fair. Though even better for definitions of "blankets" that include bedsheets.

If there is land there when the waters receed, people will build. Better to help them rebuild and do it properly.

Not to mention, NOLA is a major port. In practical terms, it will be necessary either to rebuild NOLA (at minimum, to get its port facilities back to where they were, plus necessary supporting infrastructure), or to find a new port/increase the capacity of existing ports to take up the slack. Unless we want the U.S. to become more self-sufficient/less dependent on imports, which would have its upside but doesn't appear likely in today's zeitgeist.