Katrina

Funny how things happening half a world away suddenly seem so close. My old pen-pal Aimee lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, virtually all her posessions gone overnight...her folks lost all that plus their home. They are all okay though, when you look at the poor bastards down in New Orleans.

Some really nice people I met on the way to and from Lourdes popped up on the news as their son, daughter-in-law and grandson were trapped in the middle of the aftermath...as it turns out they were in the Superdome and are safe and sound too thank God.

The aftermath is something to debate...It's easy to lash out in anger after a crisis but you have to ask questions about how the aftermath was allowed to descend into such a shocking mess.