Alpha and Omega

If MoDo hit one out of the park, John Tierney whiffed on three pitches so far out of the strike zone he might as well be blindfolded. What a son of a bitch.

For the record, Mr. Tierney, cities burned to the ground--or nearly so--long after Ben Franklin introduced fire departments, many of which charged extortionist rates for "protection," and sometimes fought for the "right" to save buildings (and pocket said protection money) while they burned to the ground. New York itself had any number of fires, including the one during the infamous draft riots of 1863 (portrayed with only partial accuracy in the movie Gangs of New York--the book is a better study for those wanting facts). FEMA is the government gravy train? My ass--try "no bid Pentagon contracts" if government pork is the particular windmill you want to tilt at. (link courtesy of America Blog).

And before you dismiss New Orleans as "just another high risk area to live in," take a look at your apartment (the heating, the a/c, the furnishings, your computer case, for instance), your car/means of conveyence, the food you eat--the STEEL that constructs the buildings that are fireproofed in a way you're so smug about...and remember that NOLA is, as often as not, the first port of call for the materials that all that is made of.

Speaking of America Blog, they've been doing an incredible job of covering the disaster, and have two items that are of paramount interest: a link (.pdf) displaying the request Louisiana made to Washington on August 28th--Sunday--and this report about the STILL HORRIFIC conditions at the Convention Center, where people have been LOCKED IN. Oh my god, indeed.

And John Tierney can go fuck himself.