What fires? Oh, yeah.

And you’re right about the mudslides. I was getting them mixed up with the mudslides in the Sierras that fall ON houses.

And what could offend? Very interesting stuff. Is there anyplace ’safe’ to live?

B. The Sierra Nevada is hundreds of miles from where the fires have been-a-burning.

C. Houses slide down slopes in Malibu, San Clemente, and
Anaheim Hills.

D. Are you saying Jesus’ words not to build on sand is authentic?

E. Check my private email for this one, it might offend.

Certain factors, particularly greed, encourages man to expand his territory and establish settlements, staking his claim to land or even colonizing the land of others.

New Orleans came about because it was uniquely situated on the river and near the Gulf to enhance commerce. It’s closest rival port was Galveston but that was nearly wiped out by a hurricane of it’s own over 100 years ago, establishing New Orleans as the premier port on the Gulf.

But it should not have been. It is no mystery why so many aborigines are ‘nomadic’ and tend not to establish year round permanent settlements, especially in places that are host to frequent hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and drought. They knew well (as did we for quite some time) that the Mississippi wants to wander, its course changing direction like an undulating snake. Many oxbow lakes are left stranded when the river changed course.

To prevent this natural occurrence from happening, leaving New Orleans high and dry in the middle of the Gulf, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent millions (perhaps billions) of dollars upgrading and reinforcing the levee system. Now, as John McPhee illustrated in “The Control of Nature” (written over 20 years ago) the Mississippi sits high above the surrounding flood plain like a vein upon the back of an old man’s hand. It desperately wants to join with the Atchalafaya on it’s race to the sea and some day most probably will, leaving New Orleans up the creek without a river.

The Katrina disaster was inevitable. It will happen again. But why? Well there would be no disaster if there were no large city on the site. Just as there would be no houses in California sliding off the slopes of the rising Sierra Nevada if folks didn’t build dream homes there. Or there would be much less damage to high rises hotels and condominiums if they weren’t built on the unstable sands of barrier islands in the hurricane belt. The Colorado river is a mere trickle when it enters the Gulf of California, leaving the residents with little fresh water, because we have suburbanized the Great American Desert of the Southwest and Western US.

The father of a close friend had this advice for us when we came of age; “Boys, never build in a flood plain.” Good advice. If we think Katrina was awful just wait for when a big storm hits the Netherlands.

The question I have is this: although we need to be sympathetic to the plight of people who have become victims of the natural course of events, how long should we tolerate it? How many times must we rebuild that hotel? Many people in New Orleans did the right thing after Katrina; they moved to someplace safer.

The second problem is that the Corp of Engineers has done little to shore up the levies. It is another Katrina waiting to happen.

Chris – your weather details and answers are up on my blog now – any Q’s – just ask Happy to help out my friends

love

I agree with Lyndon Johnson–Guns and butter, without the guns, and without Halliburton as the middle man.

We have reneged on our responsibility towards the poor–we meaning the church.

For example, a rich church in southern California–one of the first mega-churches, used to give out rice and beans to people who say they have a need (maybe the food ministry has expanded). The church always had millions of $$$ when it needed a piece of real estate for a “Retreat Center” or plenty when the church bought a tank for the government of Israel (at least that was the rumor) but paid chicken feed to the people who worked for the church.

I have known few in Christianity with the compassion and the money to back it up–when the two come together, that is the best combination. On the other hand, I have seen plenty of those with compassion and no $$$ or a lot of $$$ with little compassion (or $$$ and silliness and thin support for ministries who help the poor).

The bottom line is that there are unsolvable problems, homelessness, hunger, disease may be among the leaders.
But I believe Christians are called to help those with food and substantial assistance, and not just a token few cents a day.

The focus should be on the people in need.

ambrosia,
Come on… that’s a little too simplistic for you… Didn’t you ever see “It’s a Wonderful Life”? For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Like squeezing a balloon; squeeze here and it pops out there…

Concerning eliminating world hunger or bringing about world peace – you guys heard the story of the girl and the starfish??

Man is taking a walk along a massively large long remote beach that is covereed in dead and dying starfish. As he walks along he sees a tiny red-headed girl walking to the water throwing something in the ocean and walking back again, over and over.

When he reaches her he asks her what she is doing?

“I’m saving the starfish!” she says.

The man looks away beyond her at the milions of starfish ahead and then turns a looks back the way he walked at the even more millions on the long stretch of fish covered beach he entered into a short walk back and says:
But why? You cannot possibly hope to help all of them? You can’t ever make a difference here – you’re only a little girl. What difference can you possibly make to all these dying fish?”

“Well, ” she says as she throws another starfish back into the water to be given a second chance and not dehydrate in the baking sun; “… I made a difference for that one!”

Never underestimate the Power of One!

Especially if we all follow His lead

love