What a dizzying week. What started out as a strong but seemingly normal re-incarnation of a Gulf hurricane has turned into a logistical nightmare that has uncovered massive government ineptitude up to the highest levels of the federal government. Katrina with her massive category 5 winds leveled the drunken city of 'Nawlins to reveal the downtrodden of Lower 'Weeziana. I'm not talking about the kinds of poor that you might see in Oakland, San Fran, Los Angeles, or D.C. But folks who live in shacks on the swamps outside the Garden District-The likes of which most of the world didn't know about. Those who you don't see when you're pining for beads in the French Quarter in February.

I don't understand why brotha's and sista's found it necessary to go up in other peoples' property (OPP) to take stuff. What the hell are you going to do with a set of stereo speakers when you don't have a home to go to? Are you going to get on Craigslist and sell the stuff? Yeah right. I could turn a blind eye to those who took necessities especially seeing the images of the suffering of folks. Oh and by the way, whites were looting (not finding Yahoo!) also.

This entire debacle has revealed a lot about the fabric of our society. From the beginning... when the pretty weather lady says go, YOU GO. !! I live in quake country- about a mile from the waaayyy overdue Hayward Fault. I'll have no warning what so ever when this thing blows. I'd better be up on my prayers and have a survival kit and hope I'm not in the BART Transbay tube. With a hurricane, one has 4-5 days of warning. 24-48 hours at very least. People in New Orleans have been waiting on this "Big One" for a long time much like we are waiting for the "Big One" out here. I know a lot of folks just couldn’t leave. I feel ya'. Someone made the decision to use the Superdome... once called the 8th wonder of the world. It was local, it could hold tens of thousands of people and it was thought to be safe. I can't be mad at that call. Now folks are complaining they were sent to an unsafe place because of racism. The Superdome proved to have problems but had many of these folks stayed in their homes, we may be looking at a lot more folks floating down Bourbon Street. The conditions sucked. I would never be able to imagine the stench, heat and humidity down there- but why complain?

What happened to our sense of determination as a people? Are we really this helpless? Can we not do anything for ourselves? I like the story of Jabbar Gibson. They say he stole a renegade bus. I say he got off his ass and showed some self-efficacy. I'm sure there were more stories like his. My forefathers would be rolling over in their graves if they saw how weak we've become. I know... I hear folks already saying "they were poor". I know there poor white folks (and poor Vietnamese and poor Latinos) yet I don't see them wailing around beggin' for the gub'ment to help them. There are things the government can do- like coordinate evacuations, shelters and aid. And in NOLA, they mostly failed. But it is not the government's job to save us. There are times when you have to fend for yourself. Why are folks shooting at people who were trying to help them ? I heard apologizers from the left talking about shock and other psycho gobbeldy goop. Bull crap. These are sick criminals who should be summarily executed (as some actually were).

Bottom line... black folks... wake up and don't be caught with your pants down like they were in NOLA because the government is not there to pull them back up for you.