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Yeah, I saw that, but doesn't utwente have some sort of open access?

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Hmm, I've never heard of this type of thing happening in Idaho. Perhaps they do have militias - I don't know - but I'm not aware of any disasters, riots, or eruptions of anarchy.

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Okay. Let's assume you're being honest. First off, I think a comparison of guns in red areas versus guns in blue areas would be interesting. Second, despite the fact that NO may well be a very blue area, that still means that you have at least 25% conservatives there, and that's probably a very low estimate. Third, most of the po-ass folks I know are very conservative. They don't seem to follow that that's probably pretty hypocritical to stupid, but them's the facts. Fourth, the reason these people are poor is because they were born poor, not because they chose to become poor or stay poor. When you're in a hole, it's pretty hard to get yourself out of it. It's even harder when you've never seen above it.

Basically, your argument is spurious and offensive. Pretty much the definition of the characteristics of a troll. Odd how trolls always claim they don't know what trolls are.

That said, you do have points about why certain things weren't done by NO itself before the fact. But those arguments, while intellectually important, aren't really relevant now. No more than why NO was built in a hole in the first place. The only people that can help at this point are people from elsewhere, and they're just not getting the job done. It's better to prevent fires than to fight them, but just because they weren't prevented doesn't mean you should ignore them when they burn, even if your only reason is to prevent damage to the rest.

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Why didn't mayor Nagin deploy these buses when the mandatory evacuation was ordered?

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One thing the president could do is allow the dutch teams of dyke technicians to provide their support. I can understand turning down cash from other nations, but turning down technical assistance from the world's best dyke engineers doesn't seem to be wise.

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What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state.

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What Hurricane Katrina exposed was the psychological consequences of the welfare state.

Total rubish! As you might know (you are Duch, right?), calling USA 'welfare state' compared to almost anything in Europe (or at least its richer part) is comical. And yet, our disaters (like floods we just had in Switzerland and Germany, or those really catastrophical two (three?) years ago) look remarkably different.

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And it's strange that those that are supported by the government here are 'haves', but the people on welfare there are still dirt poor?

See? The solution is more of welfare state, not less...

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It seems that the entire black population has become dependant on the government in america?

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I really don't see how this inevitable disaster can be blamed on the president when the problem has been known for decades.

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My point about red and blue is that the 'have-nots' are usually very reliant on the state, which is a staple of the 'blue' side.

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One thing the president could do is allow the dutch teams of dyke technicians to provide their support. I can understand turning down cash from other nations, but turning down technical assistance from the world's best dyke engineers doesn't seem to be wise.

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being used by the gangs ruling the streets of N.O. were looted from gun stores?

Phfffft, not likely.

Last year, university researchers conducted an experiment in which police fired 700 blank rounds in a New Orleans neighborhood in a single afternoon. No one called to report the gunfire.

From the same article above:

The city’s murder rate is still far lower than a decade ago, when New Orleans was the country’s murder capital. But in recent years, the city’s homicide rate has climbed again to nearly 10 times the national average.

I have a friend in the construction business (correction: was in the construction business ). The first 3 months of each year he was booked solid patching roofs because the custom is to shoot guns in the air on New Year's Eve.

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One New Orleans "tradition" which has been getting unwanted attention is the shooting of guns into the air for midnight. Despite the fact that authorities have been cracking down hard on the offenders, it still remains a problem – 5 people were hit on New Year's Eve 2001. Even the mayor himself once said, "I would take cover at midnight myself, and I know that's not possible for everyone to do in the French Quarter because of the density of people there... There are risks to being outside. I cannot guarantee anyone's safety."

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My point about red and blue is that the 'have-nots' are usually very reliant on the state, which is a staple of the 'blue' side.

I hate to break it you, but the myth that the poor vote Democrat and the rich vote Republican is just that, a myth. The poorest (and least educated) states are primarily Republican. Here are some links for your perusal:

http://uspolitics.about.com/library/bl_education_vote.htm
http://www.reachm.com/amstreet/archives/2005/05/02/median-income-by-state/

I read an interesting book about this recently, "What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America". It is quite interesting how the American people have been completely hoodwinked into supporting politicians that hurt them and the nation.

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Possible apologies to Brad here, but I agree with everything you say. And you can look to my sig to where I think all bucks stop. That doesn't mean blame for SELA can't be laid at the doorstep of previous administrations. Right now, though, somebody else has the ball.

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I only brought up how NO could have done more because others brought up how the federal government could have done more.

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Who's going do the first "Nagin for President" T-shirts?

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Here's a Washington Post article about some of the very real consquences of Katrina beyond the obvious.

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We live in a complicated interconnected world, and our goverment needs to understand it and behave in a way that acknowledges it. The current administration doesn't, isn't, and refuses to acknowledge facts. They are not "reality-based"

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*Remember that gem from a quotation in an October 17 New York Times article by Ron Suskind quoting an unnamed aide to the (current) President.

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The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.

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Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

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Here's streaming audio of the louisiana police and national guard radio traffic. http://ev1helps.net:8080/lspbtr

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[Bush is] probably just away from the cameras

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I don't see why some people always try to villify those in power in situations like this. I might not like some things Bush does, but I can't see how he is responsible for this natural disaster. You should cut the man some slack, he is your president. You say it appears he's doing nothing, but he's probably just away from the cameras, getting down to business, where as the mayor of New Orleans has time to do interviews to rant about the Iraq war, which is just useless in a crisis like this. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't want to rescue the survivors, it's just a huge undertaking. A huge city is underwater, in a devasted region, supplies are short (even for the rescuers), and to make matters worse armed gangs are shooting at police, helicopters, and boats.
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Billy