Spent the day Sunday with Amy and some friends from Fort Chiswell. After breakfast, headed for the Carroll County Gun Show and Flea Market (Amy’s second trip for the weekend, my first).
Lots of things to occupy a mind on this Sunday morning. Rescuers finally arrived in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast but the delay in response must be addressed and must not be allowed to happen again.
The images on newscasts disturb even a cynical newspaperman. How could this be allowed to happen in the richest, most powerful, country in the world? Why did the government response agencies tasked with rapid action sit on their hands for nearly a week?
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Gas stations in town started the week at $239.9 a gallon for regular unleaded — down 10 cents from the week before. By Wednesday, the prices had jumped to $285.9 in reaction to the flooding from Hurricane Katrina and damage to oil refineries and pipelines along the Gulf Coast.
Thursday morning brought another shock: $305.9. By afternoon, the signs showed $319.9 and the town’s two independent retailers said they would most likely run out of gas during the long Labor Day weekend because supplies are running short and the big oil company stations get the first allotments.
Continue reading …Most Americans, thankfully, never live through the full fury of nature’s wrath. As a journalist, I saw too much of it close up — tornados in the Midwest, earthquakes in Califoria, floods along the Mississippi River and hurricanes in the South.
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