He's Just a Friend - Ode to Dean...

She walks in beauty like the night?
The night always hides what the day reveals...
She wraps herself around you
She begs for your trust
And in the bright light of the searing sun, you're left with wounds to heal.

Dean is just a friend... She wouldn't lie to me, would she?
They're always with others...Never alone like she is with you...
She's right when says to ignore the voices that always wake you at night...
the nails that rake open things you thought were safe...
They must simply be echoes from ghosts of your own creation, they couldn't be hers...EVERYone knows, women never lie about things such as these.

He's JUST a friend! What else could he be? Aren't you glad that women never lie about things such as these...
Or their trip to Florida might seem kind of odd... But then again, they were with Susan, and SHE'D tell you if there was something more. Wouldn't she? Of course she would, she's your friend... And women never lie about things such as these.

It's not uncommon for her to be quiet...Everyone needs time alone now and then. It's not like she's with Dean, is it? Thank God you can trust her, or you might think Dean was more than just her Christian Brother.
No, she SAID that she loved you...As Jesus is her witness...And if that's not reassuring enough...Remember...Women never lie about things such as these.

Ok, so she wasn't the one for you, these things do happen...Move on with your life!
Yes, yes, she's engaged to Dean, but it's been almost a month since she left you! HER heart needs love, whereas, yours is made of stone...And it's going to be fine...Or so she said.
Isn't it good to know that women never lie...About things such as these.

It's only men who are dogs...Only men who cheat and lie...Just ask Oprah, or Sally, or the girls from the view...
They'll show you that it's only men whose wakes are littered with the hearts that they've broken and lives they've torn asunder...
And you can believe them...Because women never lie...About things such as these.

Should you hold on to those pictures... Or the words that she said?
afterall, her outsides looked good...But her insides were dead.
The angel you loved, has whored herself to the highest bidder...
be glad you weren't the one.
if you had chained yourself to her...Can you imagine the damage she could have done.
Be glad for the lesson, or those new bricks for your wall...And do try to remember...Women...ever lie...about things such as these.

Katrina - A Walking Clucks of Smurfs

It's time to move onto the next group who must share the blame for the smurf ups in New Orleans before and after katrina...

• THE RESIDENTS OF NEW ORLEANS
• POLITICIANS AND THE CORP OF ENGINEERS
• THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS
• THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA
• THE RESCUE SERVICES OF NEW ORLEANS
• THE NATIONAL GUARD
• FEMA
• THE PRESIDENT

So... How did the Politicians and the Corp of Engineers smurf up?

First let me make sure all of you are familiar with sovereign immunity . Basically, it basically states that no action by the government can be considered illegal, ergo the government cannot be sued or held liable.

So, for FORTY YEARS the army Corp of engineers have been constructing these levees... Yes, they took a job that could really have been done in a few years, easily, and managed to squeeze it into forty years... Oh, they haven't finished.

Now here's the crux... The walls of the levee are not and have NEVER been built to specification. They should go at least sixteen feet deep, but go only ten feet deep.

Now, how do we the people put up with that? Well... We can't sue the government. We can't have any member of government locked up for criminal negligence... Ergo, there is NO accountability...

it gets better... Katrina was down to a category ONE storm by the time she hit... And the water level NEVER went any higher than normal... At NO point in time did the water level rise above normal... Firemen caught videos of the the levees breaking at about 8:30 am.. A little more than the initial government report.

Those levees would have broke eventually... Even if Katrina had never hit...

I thought I'd spend a post on each one of these.

Katrina - New Orleans... A Cluster Smurf

Like many people I've been wondering how things were handled so badly in New Orleans before and after Katrina. I've been listening to the news and the stories coming out of New Orleans, trying to find the answer. WHO was it that smurfed up... It seems the answer is... EVERYONE!

1. THE RESIDENTS OF NEW ORLEANS
2. POLITICIANS AND THE CORP OF ENGINEERS
3. THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS
4. THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA
5. THE RESCUE SERVICES OF NEW ORLEANS
6. THE NATIONAL GUARD
7. FEMA
8. THE PRESIDENT

I thought I'd spend a post on each one of these. Most of the time I try to stick to the light hearted and humorous side of life...But sometimes, a thing cannot and should not be ignored. Let's all learn from this. Today, I focus on the residents of New Orleans.

The Residents Of New Orleans

I grew up in Florida and I've been in many hurricanes - and some very strong hurricanes at that. It seemed common sense to us, when a hurricane was likely to hit your area, and you lived on the beach or near the water, you evacuated. When the warning came to evacuate, quite simply, we did... The residents of New Orleans were not only warned that a category five hurricane was going to hit, and not only were they warned that the hurricane could drive water over the levees, but they were ORDERED to evacuate and nearly one million residents did evacuate.

Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency and ordered a MANDATORY evacuation. By law the residents were REQUIRED to evacuate, and those who chose not to actually broke the law. This law can be used by police and emergency services to force people to evacuate.

Most of the residents of New Orleans who drowned or were stranded by the flood Katrina caused, actually CHOSE to stay. They CHOSE not to evacuate. I didn't know that until I watched Spike Lee's documentary

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.

MANY of these people couldn't even swim... The worst damage from a hurricane usually comes from the tidal surge which floods the land and drags things back out to see... With all due respect, and honest sympathy, the residents of New Orleans MUST take some responsibility for what happened to them if they refused to evacuate.

If you are legally walking along a sidewalk and you see a car heading for you at high speed you're likely to jump out of it's way. Driven by the instinct for survival. You would NOT decide to stay on the sidewalk because you had the right to be there and the car did not. You would NOT stay there because you had been standing there for several minutes and you didn't feel you should be required to move. You would NOT stay there thinking "if this goes badly, someone will rescue me."

People did have warning. Many of those stranded DID have transportation. Many simply CHOSE to stay.

I do realize there were SOME people who could NOT get themselves out of the city. Such as the elderly who lived alone... I am not referring to people such as these, people who could NOT evacuate. I am speaking only of those who could, but for some reason chose not to...

The choices we make today, dictate the lives we live tomorrow...