noise to signal

So much has happened...

... while I've been switching hosts. I think my response to the last several days comes down to these statements, in no particular order:

I don't know who's fundamentally to blame for the lack of response. I don't know what their motivation was, or if (as usual) it was simply compounded incompetance.

I do know that we could have, and in fact have been predicting just this kind of disaster, since before Memphis Minnie and her husband Kansas Joe recorded "When the Levee Breaks" back in 1929.

I don't know if Kanye West is right. But he did manage to provoke discussion.

It may be true that people in New Orleans should have done more for themselves, either by leaving earlier or by taking more initiative to keep their surroundings as tidy as possible under the situation. However, I have never been in their historical, socio-economic, or immediate circumstances, so I can't really say what I would have done in that situation.

Finally, I know that when there is a congressional hearing, Aaron Broussard's raw, bereft interview must be admitted as testimony.