---

She’s 500 miles south but her outer bands are dropping rain on us and generating thunderstorms. No more than an inch is expected but there is heavy surf on the coast.

Just to help us out the Shrubbery is sending the 842nd Signal Company of the Reserves to Iraq for a year. Well, Santa Rosa county [to my west] didn’t really need the 90 men and their mobile communications equipment. Fortunately those who were in Mississippi repairing telephone lines got back, or they would have been AWOL. I’m sure Bell South and Sprint don’t mind losing repair people, nor do the communities mind losing cops and firemen, right?

It would be nice if Rita would stall and spin down to a tropical storm from her current Cat 5 status, but that’s not likely to happen. The best vibes from the Panhandle go to those in the path.

---

---

Mississippi town feels forgotten in recovery

PEARLINGTON, Mississippi (AP) — For more than a week, Pearlington survived largely on its own.

Then, 10 days after Hurricane Katrina annihilated this tiny hamlet on the Louisiana state line, Jeff McVay and five other members of a state emergency response team from Walton County, Florida, arrived at the request of Hancock County.

McVay, who’s been through many hurricanes, was stunned by what he found — a town that had nothing but a place to get water, ice and military-issued meals. There was no Red Cross. There was no shelter. He called home and asked for six more men.

Walton County is the next county to the east of me, so they’ve experienced the same storms I have and know the drill on recovery.

Notice he called back to Walton County for more people, knowing that he wasn’t going to get support from FEMA, and Hancock County called because they weren’t getting any help from the state.

This is why we are working with local officials and organization in the affected areas: the people in charge of the effort don’t know what they are doing and we are well aware of that after Ivan. The Red Cross is trying to coordinate its efforts with a group that doesn’t actually understand the concept of coordination, even though that is their main function.

Keep this story in mind when you hear the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, talk about how great things are going.

---

---

CNN says Top Senate democrat opposes Roberts. Harry says he doesn’t have enough information to be comfortable voting for Roberts, especially since the White House refused to give the Senate all of the documents that were requested.

The White House responds:

Dana Perino, White House deputy press secretary, said in response to Reid’s remarks that Roberts was “clearly qualified in terms of intellect, ethics and temperament, and it would be unfortunate if some in the Senate use his confirmation to seek to change the historic approach to Supreme Court confirmations.”

Apparently no one in this White House can remember what “advice and consent” means. The Republicans have totally changed the procedure for handling nominations of all kinds and have politicized the process. The historic approach was to consult with the Senate before making nominations, and to release documents 12 years after a President left office.

---

---

CBS has an article on the barrier islands in the Gulf:Katrina-Damaged Islands Overlooked.

The barrier islands and wetlands have to be replenished or the area will take a bigger hit the next time a hurricane hits. These features act as natural seawalls against the storm surge. If they aren’t re-established the same storm surge that Katrina generated will come on shore with even more force.

---

---

This MSNBC article, Homeowners at odd with their insurers, shows why the government has to get involved in what should be a private sector problem.

The storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain, whipped up by Katrina, put a neighbor’s hot tub and boat in Warren Willoz’s back yard. He hopes his $150,000 flood policy covers the damage done to his $275,000 house. But already there are issues.

“They said they’ll only cover the bottom cabinets but not the top,” says Willoz, “because the water didn’t get up high enough to damage the top.”

Flood insurance is a government program, because the private sector refuses to offer the protection. Corporations, which the Founding Fathers suspected of being criminal enterprises, are predicated on reducing risks. Today insurance companies don’t want to insure anyone who might file a claim. The government is stuck picking up the slack, because the corporate private sector doesn’t want to work for its money.

---