Hurricane Katrina - Made in the USA
 
Hurricane  Katrina has passed, but the disaster continues to unfold. The human arrogance that contributed to, and it may be argued, created this disaster could have been mitigated or avoided altogether if only we Americans were awake and able to respond to something other than greed and lust for material goods and our unenlightened self-interest.

 The following is a list of the major causes for Katrina and the aftermath of floods, violence, looting, pestilence, starvation and death.

• Global warming, caused by our pumping of CO into the atmosphere, predicts wilder and more frequent weather anomalies such as Katrina and the five hurricanes last year. More class five hurricanes are on the way.
  
  
• Channelisation of the Mississippi by the Army Corps of Engineers created greater flooding in the aftermath of Katrina.
  
  
• The petrochemical industry and real estate developers were responsible for the shrinking area of the bayous protecting New Orleans. The bayous served as a barrier to storm surges as well as habitat to many wild creatures.
  
  
• Building cities below sea level is a guarantee that a natural disaster will bring devastation, especially those areas subject to hurricanes and tsunamis.
  
  
• The majority of deaths in New Orleans were of people living in poverty. Bus and train service in New Orleans was cancelled prior to Katrina reaching the city, thus ensuring that the poorest people would not be able to leave.
  
  
• In 2003, funding was cut for levee maintenance in Louisiana. Two of the three levees surrounding New Orleans failed.
• FEMA funding was diverted to anti-terrorist activities. Many senior and mid-level planners left the agency.
  
  
• The heads of Homeland Security and FEMA and many of the people hired to replace the planners had no experience in emergency planning or leadership.
  
  
• In Louisiana, a third of the National Guard and a half of the National Guard in Mississippi and their equipment were diverted to Iraq for the Bush Oil War. Those soldiers and their equipment would have greatly reduced the deaths and damage to property caused by the storm.
  
  
• The oil spill into the Mississippi of up to four million barrels of fuel from two tanks could have been avoided by the building the tanks away from the flood plain. The leaking tanks are currently inaccessible due to the flood waters.
  
  
• Virtually everything that has happened in New Orleans since Katrina struck was forecast by experts and in computer models. Best practice and prudence were ignored by Bush and the Neo-Cons. Greed conquers all.

Shame upon America. Shame on George Bush playing guitar while New Orleans burns. If you didn’t vote, or if you voted for Bush and his corporate cronies in Congress, shame on you.  If you and I don't stop these evil men, then may God have mercy on our souls.

Johnny Peaceseed

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