Friday, September 2, 2005, 2:55:48 AM, Carol Kirschenbaum wrote: AA> This makes 9/11 look like a fender >> bender by comparison. CK> ck: Damn, you're good with facile comparisons! But of course you're CK> neglecting to factor in the simple reality that while in the throes of a CK> desperate situation, the victims really don't know what they're facing. On CK> 9/11, initially (and later, too), many thought the attack on the WTC was CK> just the first in a series, possibly close together. More attacks--all over CK> the US--seemed imminent. I thought I should reply to this as I didn't take into account the expectation of further attacks -- sorry CK> And the aftershocks of grief, with thousands of CK> people suddenly dead--missing, perhaps worse? But I'm also thinking about CK> NYer behavior during its many blackouts. Looting is famously minimal. well yes. But I think the situation in New Orleans is different in that the New York infrastructure, anyway stronger than New Orleans', remained. And there was a common enemy -- as it were -- as a unifier. CK> However, I came to praise New York, not revile the South. Back to the CK> hot-weather explanation. Now, I've lived in plenty of hot climates--central CK> Texas, Jackson and Oxford, Mississippi, Fresno, and New Orleans. Only in CK> New Orleans did I pass out from heat exhaustion. The humidity is CK> unbelievable. I wonder how much aggressive, nutsy behavior is directly due CK> to the lack of drinking water (dehydration can alter mental functioning) CK> along with FEMA's utter lack of planning. Oh I think probably dehydration and heat/humidity have a lot to do with it, but also the conditions. CK> FEMA, btw, seems to have few if any sensible plans for *any* disasters in CK> *any* city. I think that has to be right. Apparently a plan for New Orleans was jettisoned after Bush assumed office... CK> For instance, in case of any emergency (nuclear war, floods, CK> whatever) in Austin, Texas, FEMA's plan is to evacuate the entire city north CK> via Hwy 183, which was a notoriously slow, pot-holed, two-lane road that CK> inspired the bumper sticker, "Pray for me, I drive 183." Roads surrounding CK> New Orleans make Hwy 183 in Texas look like a better-kempt Autobahn. Mad, isn't it? and also culpably negligent -- mailto:judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html