In my last post, I made reference to the sad situation that many of the poorer citizens found themselves in after Hurricane Katrina. While I still believe that our governments entitlement system is responsible for several generations of Americans who cannot and will not think or do for themselves, some disturbing news has been circulating about the situation in New Orleans. First, there was an eyewitness account by an EMT who was in New Orleans for a conference. He tells first of hiring, together with several foreign tourists, a tour bus to come take them out of the city. Between them, they raised $25,000 to hire the buses, but the buses never made it. They were stopped before they ever got downtown by the local law enforcement folks who commandeered them for their own use. Then he tells of getting kicked out of the hotel because the hotel ran out of food and water. They then asked local policemen where they should go and were told to go to the convention center. As they approached the convention center, they were told they should not go there, as it was too dangerous. When they asked where they should go, they were told, You are on your own.After setting up camp across the street from the police station, the police chief came out and told them that they should walk across a bridge that leads across the Mississippi River and that once there, buses would take them to safety. As this group walked across town, others joined them and as they crossed the bridge, sheriffs deputies fired over their heads and told them to turn around. According to the deputies, the area across the river was secure and no one was allowed over the bridge. Its a little hard for folks, both rich and poor alike, to walk out of harms way if the local law enforcement agencies will not let you leave the city. The original link for this story was at http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18337.shtml, however, it has now been taken down. In a related story, eyewitnesses claim a government entity dynamited certain parts of the levee to prevent flooding of the uptown part of New Orleans. This happens to be the wealthier part of New Orleans with many larger homes. Of course as a result of the demolition, the poorer 9^th ward sections of town were completed flooded. Interestingly enough, after the story was reported on several Internet web sites, Bush supporters appeared out of nowhere adamantly denying the story. Whats unusual is that the eyewitnesses report hearing explosions and announcements over the local radio warning of imminent flooding. You can read more about this story here http://www.youthinkwhat.com/. All of this, along with the growing list of offers for help that FEMA turned down paint a disturbing picture of our government and just how unsafe we are in our own country even with all of the supposedly cautionary measures taken after 9-11. See the list here http://www.rense.com/general67/femwont.htm.