The Magic Beans

catastrophe:

Mourning for a Flooded Crescent City
by Andrei Codrescu

New Orleans Times-Picayne's blog updates

"In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S.  But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001)

The Bush administration's policy of turning over wetlands to developers almost certainly also contributed to the heightened level of the storm surge.

Four leading environmental groups conducted a joint expert study, concluding in 2004 that without wetlands protection New Orleans could be devastated by an ordinary, much less a Category 4 or 5, hurricane. At the G-8 meeting in Scotland this year, Bush successfully stymied any common action on global warming. Scientists, meanwhile, have continued to accumulate impressive data on the rising temperature of the oceans, which has produced more severe hurricanes."

from Salon's "No one can say they didn't see it coming"

Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? 'Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending Issues
from Editor & Publisher

Destroying FEMA

Star-Crossed Times For the Crescent City

Horror at the Farm Market

Farm Markets can be dangerous. It has nothing to do with pesticides or frankenfood either. These markets are located on highways in the middle of nowhere. You may find yourself rolling down the fast lane on the highway and have a car driven by an old lady slam on her brakes out of nowhere, because she almost passed the turn off for the farm market. Abruptly slamming on your brakes on a highway is always a really bad idea, especially if the back seat is full of small grandchildren.

I was unlucky enough to be right behind her and had three options. Go left of her, off the road, end up in a ditch or oncoming traffic in the other lane ( and probably still hit her). Go right and hit other cars. Or do the impossible.

   I didn't have the time to think or even honk the horn. I slammed on the brakes and drove between the stopped car in the left lane and the car in the right lane. Yes, that would be three cars across on two lane highway with about three inches between us. Afterwards I was in shock, then I got mad. By some miracle my car didn't kill a bunch of kids. As I drove away I spotted flowers and crosses along the highway marking spots where people had died.

I spent the rest of the day in deep thought and felt the need to stop my spastic pace of my life. Called in sick, tried to organize my life better, got rid of clutter, and stopped to smell the roses. I played all my favorite records, ate my favorite foods, and called my few remaining friends. The summer's slipping away fast and there is something about a near miss that gets you right back on track. I'm reminded not to take anything for granted. Fear is never boring.

>);}x>   Tom Waits - How's It Gonna End