The Korean Nuclear Accord: we be nice

After 3 years of jawboning, that's all we got? We be nice?

How could it happen?

I have thought about it for more than a week now. This is not the first hurricane that came to the United States. Let's set aside the fact that the federal and state governments dragged their feet on shoring up the levees. People find a way not to think about problems too big to solve. What amazes me most is the mayor of new orleans, and all the federal and state authorities he had been in contact with right up to the last moment think that evacuation is an option.

Imagine yourself the director of emergency planning in New Orleans, February 2005. You know that the hurricane season is coming again, would it have crossed your mind to look inside the city to plan for some places in the city to store food, emergency water supply, some generators and provide temporary shelter? Or if the really big one hits, talk to some cities near by away from the water to see if it can be arranged to receive 50 or 100 thousand displaced people? Apparently, it didn't cross the minds of the director of emergency planning. If it did, nothing of the sort was done.

Imagine yourself the mayor of New Orleans 5 days before Katrina hit. You were sitting in your office and your panicky director of emergency planning started telling you what could happen the way it looked the storm was coming your way. Would it have crossed your mind to call the state governors' office, the homeland security agency and some other folks in the neighbor states and ask if they can help get a few places ready in case there is a need to relocate say, 100 thousand people? It didn't happen. If it did, nothing of the sort was done.

Imagine yourself the State governor's office 2 days before Katrina hit. The mayor of New Orleans just gave you a call and said the *&%$ was hitting the fan, and the only thing he could think of was to ask half a million people to leave. Would it have crossed your mind to ask this mayor whether he thought there would be enough hotel/motel rooms in the states of texas, louisiana, mississippi and alabama to house a couple of hundred thousand people who could pay?
Would it have crossed your mind that four hundred thousand people who couldn't find or afford motel/hotel rooms might need temporary shelter? Would it have crossed your mind that you need to call to federal government to ask if you could borrow a few military bases in your and surrounding states to house a couple of hundred thousand people for at least a week? Would it have crossed your mind to ask the good mayor whether or not he had arranged for the transportation to evacuate the hospitals, the jails, the juvenile halls, the nursing homes and other facilities in which the people living there don't have ready access to their car keys? It didn't happen. If it did, nothing of the sort was done.

Imagine yourself the secretary for the homeland security agency one day before Katrina hit. You were told the mayor of New Orleans had just ordered half a million people to leave. Would it have crossed your mind that may be a few hundred thousand people may need shelter in six hours or less? Would it have crossed your mind that you were the only person in the United States that would be able to move enough food and water and arrange temporary housing? Perhaps another thought came to you which says "holy ^&*^@! why did the idiot think he could move half a million people in six hours?" Would that thought have sounded alarm all around for you to call the President? Would it have crossed your mind that to provide any kind of assistance in this impending disaster, you may need to call the U.S. armed services to get the necessary personnel and hardware? It didn't happen. If it did, nothing was done.

You know the rest.