Okay, with Ernesto bearing down on Florida (admittedly not the storm it might've been), and the anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast, all I can seem to get on the news tonite is what a tragedy the Katrina calamity continues to be.

Well, from my perspective this is proving truer than I care for. Let's review, shall we?

1. Anyone with an IQ greater than 70 knew well in advance that New Orleans was at great risk of a catastrophe from hurrican activity.
2. The vast majority (including the local and federal governements) chose to ignore this risk.
3. Lives and property were lost.
4. The federal government, which has absolutely no business insuring the welfare of the citizenry (see my previous posts quoting Davey Crockett, et al), sends hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid to the region.
5. Most of the emergency funds are diverted to bureaucratic quagmires. The people who need help the most get little or none.
6. The insurance companies (a for-profit industry) determines that a significant number of damage claims are not covered and refuses to pay the bills.
7. People who do get aid decide to rebuild on location, using the same wholly inadequate construction standards or less than what was originally constructed and destroyed.
8. Half of my pay is going to taxes to replace funds that the government should never have spent in the first place.
9. Insurance companies are being pressured to pay claims. My insurance rates are going up.

and number 10: The big oil companies used the man-made disaster that was Katrina as yet another excuse to raise the cost of fuel.

And people wonder why I am fed up with hearing about the plight of all those poor folks down in the Big Easy who have nowhere to go and no hope of getting back what they once had.

I recall a time in my life about 25 years ago where I had virtually nothing. I don't remember anyone offering me any kind of aid to do anything with. I do remember doing whatever I had to in order to get another meal in my belly. I also remember leaving my wife and family to go find work somewhere so we could continue paying our bills when I lost the job I had at home. I started with nothing, and by being willing and able to do things that others couldn't or wouldn't do, I managed to move myself slowly up in the world to the point where I am now making 6 figures, have two homes, have two kids with their college educations paid for, and will some day be able to retire, assuming the remainder of what I worked long and hard for isn't swiped by the system like the other half was to pay for someone else's stupidity, again.

I saw on the news where some old codger was unwilling to leave his home when it was inevitable it would be overcome, despite being fully capable of going to safety with the rest of his family. He died, and everyone admires his fortitude. I am unimpressed. The man's stubborn, nonsensical attitude has hurt those that he claimed to have loved, and jeopardized their welfare for no good reason.


Rant mode off.

Flame mode on.