Well since I have still been in a bit of writers block I am going to post something my wife wrote after reading this article.

Excerpt from the article:

Moral poverty cost blacks in New Orleans
By Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:

What would you do?
What would you do if you were black?
Sadly, the two questions don’t have the same answer.

To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you’re black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, then you’ll probably wait for the government to save you.

This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.

No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results....

And my wife's thoughts on this:

Wow, quite strong statements he has.

To add my own interpretation on disasters and status of the U.S.:

We as a country have grown so lazy, so dependant on others for assistance, that it's no surprise how the Katrina disaster turned out. I think about strong men and women like my grandparents and great grandparents. How my great grandfather rode in a covered wagon with his family to take ownership of unclaimed land in Nebraska. How they had to start from scratch to build their sod house and to provide shelter and food for their family. I think about my grandmother riding a horse for miles just to be able to go to school, even in nasty Nebraska winters. How she appreciated the chance to learn new things, no matter how hard it was. I think about my grandfather eagerly getting up before dawn every morning to take care of his herd. How he worked so hard each and every day even until the day he died.

We think about how far we've come in the last 100 years, how advanced we are, how much we've "evolved," but in so many ways we have regressed. We don't have pride in a job well done (let alone a job where we might get a little dirty), we don't take care of the earth around us, we expect handouts from our government, we have no sense of community, and no loyalty to the God who gave us all we have.

Just my two cents.