I, too, have seen something of a change in attitude from my wife concerning emergency preparations. Even in the face of 9/11, which nearly had a direct mortal impact on our family (oddly enough, it was a death in the family that saved one cousin from going to work in the WTC that day), she did not change her attitude about preparedness. One thing that made her open her eyes was when I went out to fill up her car with gas, and was unable to purchase premium fuel (her car has a turbo) at our local gas station. I ended up driving several miles away to another station, where I paid $3.58/gal to fill her car. Yesterday, I spent nearly $100 filling up both cars--this is in NJ, mind you, where gas taxes are comparatively low. Later on we're going to visit family in NYC. I can't wait to see how high gas prices are there! We both are old enough to remember the late 70's oil crisis.

All of this brings up some interesting points regarding weapon ownership and responsible handling. If all the responsible citizens are disarmed, then the only people left with weapons are the people not to be trusted with weapons. Given the complete lack of urgency the governmental agencies are displaying, it is not hard to see why New Orleans has decended into such a state. Even the Romans knew that the people must be kept fed to keep them pacified.