Throwing Good Money After Bad?

If a current $20 billion request is approved by congress, the running totals for hurricanes Katrina & Rita will be somewhere around $100 billion. I understand the federal government funding the rebuilding of infrastructure and debris cleanup in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, & Alabama. While these costs should be offset with some state money as well, I have no problem earmarking money used for these applications. However, I hope the Bush administration & congress will think hard before throwing more money at a literal money pit. $4.2 billion of the current $20 billion that will be reviewed by Congress will be earmarked for compensation to residents whose homes were either damaged or destroyed. I wonder if we are not overcompensating here; and I wonder if some of this money is strictly a knee jerk reaction to racial guilt?

Are mid-western families federally compensated every time a F3, F4, or F5 tornado tears up dwellings by the hundreds? No. If the situation warrants it, money is spent on clean up & vital supplies that are initially needed, but there is no offering of money going towards property damage or long term financial burden. Isn’t that what insurance is for? Are the victims of an act of God in the gulf more deserving of compensation? Those who believe they are entitled to free money because they are American citizens are living in an alternate reality.

We also need to consider if it’s marketable to invest in the future of New Orleans. It had a good run, but I think that Katrina only hastened its slow and predictable demise. Countries & governments rise and fall, and so do cities. The novelty of New Orleans has been losing its charm for some time and must have certainly lost many tourists to more charming and intriguing locations both in the U.S. and abroad over the past 20 years. I visited New Orleans for the first time a few weeks after Mardi Gras in 2005. I was appalled by the condition and atmosphere of the much ballyhooed French Quarter section of town. While walking down Canal, Bourbon, Iberville and other recognizable thoroughfares, my senses were often overcome by the heavy stench of rotting garbage and urine. The palpable atmosphere of debauchery was more sleazy than charismatic. Hordes of emaciated panhandlers spinning intricate tales and unlikely stories through missing or rotting teeth left me feeling depressed and constantly securing my white-knuckled grip on my wallet like an OCD victim. After a quick tour of the tourist hot spots, I fled to the sanctuary of my hotel room and counted the hours left until daylight at which time I would gladly leave the "Big Easy" and hopefully never return.

I would only ask the powers that be to please reconsider before rebuilding New Orleans. When pride begins to cloud common sense, poor decisions are made. If we are to believe the ocean level forecasters and some climatologists, any sort of flood-plain land reclamation and protection in the gulf would be foolhardy as water levels are only expected to rise with the melting of arctic ice caps & glaciers. What happens when a category 4 or 5 runs aground then? Hell, what would be left if one goes through this summer or fall? Keep in mind that Katrina ended up losing a considerable amount of steam and was downgraded to a category 3 shortly before landfall.

For those who want to stay in New Orleans, I say go for it, it’s a free country but don’t cry when it gets completely wiped off the face off the map. Those who don’t realize that we live in an influx world do not grasp the concept of the nature of things and are unable to adapt. I appreciate any person’s heritage and way of life, but what good are submerged roots?

Whimsical Wednesday

Nothing inspiring to post about, and yet and I feel like writing all the same. How tedious have all media outlets become? The whole Cheney hunting accident was old approximately 15 minutes after I first heard about it. Sorry, the guy got shot, but hunting accidents happen all the time- let's move on. A buddy of mine who shall remain nameless (Jimmy Jones) once shot another buddy (Mark Dell) square in the eyelid with an errant 7-1/2 sized BB on the opening day of dove season in the bootheel about 5 or so years ago, and do you think that stopped us from having a good time or even stop hunting for a minute or two? Hell no! He went to urgent care and was good to go shortly afterward. I go upland bird hunting quite a bit and while I have never witnessed an accident or even had a close call, I can understand how accidents could happen. OK, I've already allowed too many words over this unnewsworthy subject. Post Script: Dems and anti-hunters must be having a ball.

The Winter Games

Are you like me, do you love the Winter Olympics? I pay little to no attention to winter sports, other than maybe catching a few snippets of the Winter X Games, during the 4 year stretch between games; but whenever they are being played I am captivated both by the novelty of the events and the athletes who must have certainly spent the majority of their lives training for these contests. I would go so far as to say the Winter Olympics have become more entertaining than their summer counterpart, the events are simply more intriguing.

Both Olympic games, summer and winter, will always have their share of human interest stories filled with eleventy examples of courage, setbacks, defeats, and triumphs- which are an integral part of the games, and the reason why even your mom can name various Olympic athletes. However, it’s the Winter Olympics that showcase the small number of specialized athletes that often stare down severe injury or even death every time they compete. The intestinal fortitude exhibited by the downhill and freestyle skiers; snowboarders, ski jumpers; lugers and bobsledders is simply awe-inspiring. Name a summer Olympic sport where the athletes are competing at 80 miles per hour or performing 1260° rotations while hovering 30 feet over a nearly solid sheet of snow and ice. The Winter Olympics are purely more pleasing to the eye and unnerving. I find myself clenching my toes whenever a snowboarder reaches the top of a half-pipe and grimacing whenever a skier misjudges a turn or when a figure skater falls hard on the ice. Who among us would be willing to sit atop a nearly vertical 125-meter hill on skis designed for maximum velocity and catapult ourselves off of it? It’s insane.

I will admit that there are some events that aren’t quite as watchable, like curling and cross-country skiing, but even they hold a level of novelty and uniqueness that inspires one to watch if only every four years. Moreover, cross-country skiers are probably some of the most fit athletes on the face of the planet, especially when you consider the temperature at which their races are held (the biathlon cross-country skier must also shoot 4 targets accurately or face extra penalty laps!).

Over the next 2 weeks I am sure I will get my Winter Olympics fill and be ready for another 4 year hiatus, but for now I am enjoying the games and a break from stupid reality TV and sit-com reruns. Normally, February is a boring month with little to do, watch, or look forward too once the Super Bowl is over; what with all of the hunting seasons ended and too bitterly cold to go fishing. If nothing else, the Winter Olympics serve as a welcome respite from the tedium that is February every 4 years, plus there are some hot female athletes.

Valentine's, Shmalentine's

Ah yes, Saint Valentine’s Day is upon us. The origin of this holiday, which has become little more than a fiscal shot in the arm for those companies in the greeting card, candy, and flower business, are vague and convoluted at best. All I know is that it is a polarizing holiday and that it enables couples to spend excessive money on each other so that they may make up for their romantic shortcomings for the past year; a veritable relationship baptismal if you will. The male will spend $40 to $120 on flowers, another $50 on dinner and drinks, plus whatever sappy drivel he manages to concocts the day or night before. The female gushes with jubilant glee, she is both happy that she was given something and relieved that she is with somebody- anybody on this most trivial of holidays. She lords over the single women at her workplace, which nervously wait out each hour of the 14th of February in hopes that they too might receive flowers and candy.

Me, jaded, no not me. Heck, I’m glad I won’t have to spend any money on a woman this year. Yes, it will be a fairly standard V-day for yours truly; you know, a sleeve of Oreos, a bag of Rold Golds, and a nice cheap bourbon to wash it all down.

Internet Connectivity

Haven't posted too much lately, but it's because I was in the middle of writing two different posts when my puter had some glitch with its internet connection and I lost everything. So from now on, I'll be initially composing my drafts in Word and export them over to Blogger afterward. It wouldn't have been so bad, but they were quite large and nearly impossible to recreate. Writing for me occurs spontaneously; thoughts, phrases, and memories rush in and out of my subconscious so fast that I often have trouble keeping up. That's why half of what I write is pure jibberish. Even my research papers and essays in college were written this way, and yet I managed to graduate. Anywho, I really liked both posts; one was a philosophic dissertation on misanthropy, the other a description of a typical snow day when I was a kid- really good stuff. Don't know if I have enough energy to attempt a rewrite or not.

Technology sucks sometimes. I think I'll go home now and pop in this new workout video I just bought. Laters.

Snow?

It's a bad cell phone picture, but what is this strange white stuff falling outside of my office?