Well here it is, nearly the end of another year. The news media are talking about the big events of 2005. I am going to mention just one. Most notably, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The devastation of New Orleans was catastrophic, but (now prepare your cat-o-nine tails to flog me here!) sadly inevitable. You have a city that built under sea level, protected by sea walls that can only withstand a Category 3 Hurricane. Hurricanes for the last several years have been getting stronger, and stronger. Did anybody think about trying to reinforce them just in case? No. We got a lot of “Oh well a Category 4 isn’t gonna happen.” No It was a Category 5! ( I read something the other day that by the time Katrina actually hit, the winds had actually diminished to a Category 3. I’m sure that the people who died, and those who have been displaced and lost everything are really glad that the storm wasn’t as bad as everyone thought it was!)
Of course this comes from the same people that don’t believe in the Kyoto Accord. Global Warming is a myth. Iraq has those darn WMD’s I know it Just gimme some more time and we’ll find ‘em!
Suffice it to say that I have a little trouble feeling sorry for people that get flooded out year after year and keep going back. To me this is the same as someone who walks out into traffic and gets hit by a car. He gets medical treatment, then goes out and walks into traffic again, and again, and again! Not big learning curve is there! Frankly I say let New Orleans go back to the swamp! (Got those whips handy?)
Then there were the people of Gulfport, Mississippi. Remember them? Anybody? Several hundred people died and lost their homes and businesses there, but do we hear about them? Not really New Orleans get all the coverage, ad most of the help. Well, I suppose one good thing did come out of the disaster.
Michael Brown (of FEMA) found himself a better job!
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4 comments:
This is scary. I was thinking the exact same thing as I was hearing about the fires in Texas and Oklahoma. Federal disaster relief is being requested for those affected. I thought too of the luxury homes on the Carolina coast that get washed away every few years, only to be rebuilt even larger.
When did it become the responsibilty of federal goverment to take care of any problem that we might suffer?
I was required to obtain flood insurance in order to get a mortgage; why should those without be rewarded?
I am just glad I wasn't the only one who thought this. Of course that now puts us in the category that Kanye West thinks "hates black people"
I have the same problem feeling sorry for the idiots who build houses in the middle of an earthquake zone, or on the Mailbu Beach, or buy a Mobile Home in Tornado Alley,or live in a heavily orested area then cry to the Federal government when their homes fall down, slide into the bay,blow away or burn up. And then they rebuild in the exact same spot and it happens again a few years later, and they stick thier hands out to the government for more.
A generous spirit wants to extend a helping hand to those who are in need. It's an enabler or a fool who pays for the foibles of another. Should the feds or any state agency be subsidizing the building or re-building of million dollar houses? That's like asking the chauffer to take a pay cut to cover the cost of detailing the Rolls. Or tax cuts to pay for outrageous executive compensation for ceo's of underperforming companies! Yes, I am willing to help folks who lost everything get back on their feet. Food stamps and unemployment helped me when I lost everything except $100 and two ten year old vehicles to the real estate bust in Texas. But nobody bought me a bigger and better house. I never asked them to and I never expected anybody would.
I agree with Robert.Too many people think that a disaster is the time to stick out a hand for a payoff. Even those that were not afected by the flooding and destruction.
Every week I read about another fraudulent payment being discovered. What is there about times of trouble that bring out the creeps, and con-artists?
I am all for helping those who need help, but when I offer a little change to someone on the street that has asked me for a little help, and they give me a look that says they expected five dollars or more, I just shake my head and wonder.
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