When Governments Impede Disaster Recovery

It's been a rough 10 days for millions of people. First Cyclone Nargis flooded Myanmar and the death toll is estimated to top 100,000, with more than a million people homeless. Then yesterday a major earthquake rocked China, and the current estimate of 10,000 dead is expected to climb. The people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast send their thoughts and prayers to those suffering from these two most recent natural disasters.

Government officials in the U.S. have been outspoken about how the inept governments of Myanmar and China will cause more death and suffering by delaying aid and recovery. I first heard this theme a week ago when I saw Laura Bush criticize Myanmar officials. But to me, the Bush administration has no street cred when it comes to handling disasters after their response to Katrina. I think of all the foreign aid offered to the Gulf Coast that our government ignored. And Laura Bush directly condemns Myanmar's government for not understanding the magnitude of the disaster, and I remember her husband saying "I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees" after being repeatedly warned about this very thing.

I have no doubt that thousands will die because of the governments of China and Myanmar. But I would add that thousands died here because of our government's ineptitude, and people are still passing away because of the Federal Flood. For many it has been a slow and depressing death. And there is untold suffering. A recent survey conducted nearly 3 years after Katrina finds that two-thirds of the residents of Louisiana impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita feel they aren't close to recovery yet. I would put my family and I in that position.

As my friend Editor B pointed out two years ago, recovery after a major disaster is a marathon, not a sprint. But sadly governments can at times make the marathon even more difficult.

Purple Halfway House

Today marks the halfway point in the rebuilding of our house. We've thus far paid the contractor for 51.22% of the total contracted work. Yeah, and notice it's purple. We wanted the sort of house that if we didn't live in New Orleans, neighbors would complain. Plumbing and electrical are roughed in, and now it is HVAC and insulation and then drywall late next week. One more thing... All of this has been stressful... Very very stressful.

Response to a Student's Email

It's grading time at Xavier, and I just responded to a student with the following email:

Dear student's name, while I didn't fully understand your email request, it seems that you are begging that I give you a high grade because of the following reasons:

1. The registrar made a mistake and so that is why you missed the first three weeks of class,
2. Auto accident forced you to miss even more classes,
3. Ulcer required bed rest and you missed even more classes, and in the end you were absent for 68% of the classes,
4. Repeated bad advice from other students and your advisor talking you out of dropping the course.

Is there anything I'm missing? While I'm qualified at assigning marks based on the quality of research papers and performance on exams, I'm not sure how to grade based on the circumstances which you outline. Please advise.

Dr. Homan

I Sometimes Go Off on Tangents

Conversation from the last day of class for a Prophets and Prophecy Course...

Me: It's a scientific fact that African Americans are more likely to spill drinks than white people. That's why you can't have drinks in the classroom here at Xavier, but at schools like Tulane and UNO it is OK. White people have millions of years of evolution where their Caucasian monkey ancestors held demitasse cups with their pinkies out and their white monkey hands steady.

Student: I think we should get to do whatever we want in this classroom. We're paying for it.

Me: If I can teach you one thing, it's that you can never do what you want, even with lots and lots of money. Take Senator Vitter for example. Even when he was dropping thousands of dollars at the Canal Street Brothel and the DC Mayflower hotel, there were still rules. Sure money got him over the diaper hurdle to feed his fetish, but there were still things that the prostitutes wouldn't let David Vitter do.

Student: Like have drinks in the room?

Me: Exactly! That red shag carpet is expensive, and stains at a whore house, well that's just tacky and bad for business.

An OLD Clock Radio

The first thing I do when I wake up is roll over to my right and turn on NPR. I'm a fan of morning edition and weekend edition. But if it's the puzzle master Will Shortz I turn it off for a few minutes, and then turn it back on. I don't care for Will Shortz, mostly because his guest callers are ignorant and the silence after questions is so damn painful. But this morning the trusted clock radio wasn't working well. I told this to my wife Therese and she said "Well, the radio was a wedding gift." This apparently means that electronics are not expected to last as long as my marriage, which took place in 1991 for those still counting.

First Impressions

Get out your red pens. Here are the opening sentences for the last three papers I've graded for a course entitled Religions of the ancient Near East:

1. "Within every great epic story, exists a legendary hero and his/her journey to explore, seek adventure, and achieve greatness by means of overcoming struggles."
2. "In every culture, every religion, there are central characters that embodies the beliefs of it's people and reinforces the rituals and culture set forth."
3. "Zawi Hawass seems as obnoxious and petulant as the man who hawks OxiClean on late night commercials."

Number 3 wins.

Are You There God? It's Me, Rex

The King of Carnival, the Monarch of Merriment, Rex, is stranded on a remote Pacific Island known as Palmyra Atoll. New Orleanians are freaking out. Nobody has seen Comus for two days, but with the Boeuf Gras float missing and an a case of empty champagne bottles at the Algiers Ferry dock, it's obvious what happened. And then Mickey Easterling purchased 200 pairs of clean white tights, but the Shrimp Arnaud she sent along stained them. Word is Rex had to go all Gilligan's Island and make a crown out of a Zulu coconut and a scepter out of a page's femur bone. He's gone three days without a makeup change, and he even briefly caught on fire after a Flambeaux dropped the last of his crack cocaine in Rex's cape. So God, please take care of our Rex. He's so helpless, and so afraid, and New Orleans needs him. Please God, please......

McCain's Minstrel Show

Today hundreds of secret service agents are snooping around the Xavier campus, looking under benches through their mirrored sunglasses, talking in their microphoned lapels, and just standing with arms crossed looking smug. John McCain is scheduled to have a town hall meeting here tomorrow at noon. Someone on his campaign no doubt felt that pictures of McCain shaking hands with the revered president of Xavier Norman C Francis, and having large numbers of African American college students clapping after McCain talks about reform would be a good thing, especially if he is up against "not black enough" Obama. Post-Katrina New Orleans represents the failure of the U.S. government towards African Americans more than any place on earth. So on many levels, I am glad he is coming here. I wish more politicians would.

If I were going to see Senator McCain's song and dance show, which I'm not, and if given the chance, I would have walked up the microphone and said:

Senator McCain, welcome to the Xavier campus and to New Orleans. I appreciate that you are trying to reach out to demographics not likely to vote for you by coming here and by going to Memphis on the 40-year-anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, where you apologized for your opposition to making Martin Luther King Jr Day a national holiday, and 8 years earlier, when you apologized for saying that you saw the Confederate Flag as a symbol of heritage rather than a symbol of hate. But if I may try to solicit another apology, or get an explanation, why did you vote against the 1990 Civil Rights Act? Don't all of these things enhance you with one of your demographics, the kind that wouldn't vote for you if you had fathered a Black baby?

Defense Pessimism

Hammhawk just diagnosed me with "defense pessimism." Before I engage in anything where the outcome is up in the air, I get depressed because I think I'm going to lose, and then if I lose it eases the pain, and if I win, I'm surprised and happy.

Today, I'm surprised and happy because the Hornets dominated the Mavericks 127-103. And at the same time, even though everyone including me predicted the outcome, I'm depressed with no easement of pain because I have to listen to Hillary brag about her Pennsylvania victory, at least until May 6th. Come on voters in Indiana and North Carolina, especially older working class Caucasians and Catholic women (Obama's least favorable demographic), I want to see Obama debate McCain.

Kids, Their Abu, and Sports

Tonight Kalypso and I went to the Hornets' playoff game. We were two rows from the top, but had a great time. Over the course of the game, I explained to my 12-year-old-daughter why CP3 is at times called CP30, why he should be the league's MVP, why people ran around with giant Peja Stojakovic heads on a pole after he made 3-pointers, why Jason Kidd was a great player but had no gas in his tank, what was so cool about even attempting the alley-oop behind the head dunk even if it failed, and why Dirk Nowitzki was a great player but still sucked because we live in New Orleans.

By the way, both of my kids call me "Abu," Arabic for "father," because they were born and/or grew up in the Middle East. I'm not a fan of monikers like "daddy." I am a huge fan of most things Middle Eastern.