‘Chocolate City’?!? What is Mayor Nagin of the ‘Crescent City’ thinking or not thinking now? … this guy has had a serious crash in his hard drive…. Melt down mouth said ‘take dark chocolate and add delicious white milk’ ???? I suggest that we take the Mayor of New Orleans to the nearest shrink and get him some down time because no right thinking human being would be running at the mouth the way this guy does… Why doesn’t he just ban everyone who isn’t black… of course then most normal black people would find it offensive to be relegated to a ‘Chocolate City’ when they have spent the better part of the last two centuries fighting for integrated schools and housing…. Is this an election year? Perhaps the good people of New Orleans need a new leader. Because ‘at the end of the day’ New Orleans should be reconstructed only to the extent that everyone who lives there be mandated to live safely above sea level. This will make for a much smaller kingdom for King Nagin, but then that would be far too reasonable… No let’s give him his way, perhaps it could be a ‘Chocolate City’ for gamblers… or perhaps he should take a long vacation and get some long needed rest in a quiet place ‘where life is beautiful all day long’ … I wonder if his ‘life is like a box of Chocolates’ or he ‘drives slow in the driveway’? If not ‘his short is definitely circuited’ and someone should flick the switch to shut off the motor running his mouth.

The Mayor of New Orleans is now gearing up with a new idea, more legalized Gambling to boost the economy. It isn'’t as though we, in the US, don'’t already have a booming gambling city that is another potential catastrophic disaster zone. Las Vegas is a ticking bomb and the rest of the country will be forced to pick up the pieces when the Hoover Dam needs to be replaced or Lake Mead is drained dry.

Now we should rebuild giant hotels on '‘Canal Street'’ in New Orleans? Let me guess is it near the canals that broke during the hurricane? That makes about as much sense, as rebuilding all of those washed away homes on swampland. Then, when another hurricane knocks down a bunch of big hotels, owned by foreign companies, we can pick up the insurance tab for them too. The Mayor of New Orleans should just accept the fact that his kingdom is smaller than it was and concentrate on fixing what is fixable.

The estimated forty billion ($40,000,000,000) dollars that has been reported to be needed for the rebuilding of the city, represents $26,650 for every one of the 1.5 million people affected by the storm… The average income in this part of PA is ($9,700 a year) well below the national poverty level and you can buy a home her for $10,000 - $20,000. Not a palace, but a serviceable dwelling with reasonable accommodations. If they gave that money to the people, they could relocate and boost the economy in the rest of the country instead of draining it away into a below sea level swamp.

There was another earthquake yesterday and the avian flu is headed this way. Shouldn'’t that tell us that there are more pressing global issues than creating another ‘'Gambling Mecca'’ within an already decadent and ridiculously located city? Let the people that were displaced by the hurricane be relocated into places where it is proven to be safe to live and let New Orleans return to its former status as a sleepy Mississippi River port town, whose workers commute.

Yes, I know I sound cold hearted but quite the contrary, I believe that we should help relocate most of those affected by the storm into more secure communities, further inland. This should be a 'One Shot Deal' because if we don't learn from history, we are truly destined to repeat it. Whether it is five weeks from now or fifty years from now, there will be another hurricane that will hit the 'soupbowl' and anyone who moves back in is risking everything.

There is a reason that the Old French Quarter survived as well as it did. That would be because when it was settled, there were no levies or people living on pumped off swampland. People lived above the predictable flood zone, only to find that even on the side of caution, there was an occasional flood or hurricane, that would disrupt their lives.

Today, every town wants to be a city, including those without places for proper expansion. Drain the swamp, fill in the Hudson or build a city in the middle of the dessert , that is dependent on outside power and water. Then when the dam brakes and the power and water are gone, cry to me that you need for me to pay for your rescue. While you have been living the high life, on a man made oasis, and I have struggled to maintain a reasonable lifestyle in a reasonable place.

Common sense mandates that the threat of the next natural disaster is looming and that mankind, the self proclaimed highest order of species, somehow learn to abide by the laws of nature or face dire consequences. The Globe is littered with habitats that are more reasonably suited for human safety and located beyond the reach of most natural disasters. We all know where those places are, but are spoiled and deluded as to believe that somehow our will and intellect puts us above the reach of climatic elements and catastrophic events.

If I put my head in the sand and refuse to look at what is going on around me then I will suffer no consequences. What am I? We call the Ostrich a lesser species, but revert to its behavior whenever it becomes convenient. Duhhhhhh!

As for the poor people of Louisiana, who have been deluded into believing that the land they once occupied was ever safe, I wish them god speed in their relocation. To those who continue to reside in places that are unnaturally unsafe or overcrowded, know that there will come a time that the rest of us will refuse to indulge you in your folly. Do what you do because you want to... Live where you want to live... But run the numbers and if you choose to buck the odds and you loose in your gamble... do not expect pity, expect consequences.

You know who you are, and where your live, weigh the benefits, the risks and the consequences, then make your decision. For those who truly do not understand, they should be offered compassion. For those who got rich selling swampland, may God forgive you because it is you who is responsible for the loss of life and human suffering. Even God doesn't offer forgiveness, if the sin is committed with prior knowledge of it's consequences.

The question as to whether or not to rebuild New Orleans is a no brainer...' Whah...I want to live below sea level'... Duh???? There used to be jokes about carpet baggers selling 'snake oil' as a cure for everything and 'swampland' as beach front property....

As it turns out the latter isn't a joke ... and the people who bought in apparently didn't realize that they were living on the bottom of the 'Gulf of Mexico.' Forget about rebuilding until the 'soup bowl' is filled in with rock and brought above sea level. If not forget about rebuilding it...

Battery Park City in Manhattan is a group of skyscrapers built on rock that was imported and dumped into the Hudson....... This method of claiming land appears to be successful....so far...but if not, should the rest of the country be forced to fix the problem? Is it reasonable for us to insure and continue to pay for 'rebuilding' anywhere along the shore line, especially places that are below sea level? If people insist on rebuilding in these places, where it has become painfully obvious that the forces of nature intend to reclaim the land or move the shoreline, it should be at their own risk.

Why not move inland, go to the beach for vacation and commute to work like the rest of us do? Whah... It's not convenient... Whah... I have too drive too far.... Whah..... My entire life just got washed away for the umpteenth time...... Fool me once shame on you... Fool me twice... shame on me........

Whah....I want to live at the base of an erupting volcano, along an active earthquake fault and in a place where tornados are constantly touching down.... Below sea level? Why not live on the moon? Then... when you finally realize that you've run out of oxygen... the rest of us can pay to ship it to you........ Or not?!

The permafrost is melting, Antarctica is dropping icebergs the size of Rhode Island and killer hurricanes and typhoon's are increasing in abundance. The Earths Plates are shifting while tsunami's and earthquakes are increasing in ferocity and the price of oil is going up.... Are we so stupid as to believe that there is a shortage?..... We believe diamonds are rare, while there are actually enough of them for every woman to have a rock.... but then we believe what we are told....... and whah... we do what ever we want... even when it makes absolutly no sense at all..... like Lemmings...........