We have three cats and three birds. The birds are a Mackaw, a Lorikeet and a Conure Parrot. People always ask us how we can have cats and birds..worried that the cats will go after the birds.. but I must have the wimpiest cats in the world, because those cats are scared to death of the birds lol Scardy Cats!

Leave it to Fox

During Katrina, they apparently did not allow people to bring their pets. When they got to the buses, they told them they’d have to leave their pets. People chose to stay.

Honestly, I would too. We have 6 animals here at home (3 cats, 3 birds) and if I had the choice of evacuating without my pet or staying with them… laugh all you want, but I’d stay.

This time, they were allowed to bring their pets on the bus with them.

That’s not to say this was the only reason the attitude towards evacuation was different, but it is a factor for those with animals – - and I was seeing a lot of people with pets evacuating on the news!

You cannot discount the love people have for their pets, man

My left wing bil is very afraid that the Obama camp will open up a can of worms that will backfire…Yes, we too made fun of some of the reporters, what we didn’t expect to do was to agree that all levels of government, from both political parties, did a good job on correcting major problems from 3 years ago. We expected progress, but not at the level that we saw.

Hey,

Did Brian Williams ever figure out why his children should be allowed to attend private schools with all the luxury that $30,000 a year will buy him, when residents of NOLA would be hard pressed to find a passing school? I’d like to see his follow up..you know, 3 years later and his kids attend public schools in NYC =))

Your second paragraph is exactly what we should be talking about and it is the reality of the situation. Let’s not forget that Blanco could have and should have turned the state over to the feds on the Saturday prior to the storm. I believe the time line link in your post goes into detail on that. Had she done that and released the National Guard, the picture may well have been a lot different.

It’s not to say the Bush administration wasn’t complicit with some of the failures of Katrina – because they were. It think they learned a lot of hard lessons, as well. But a great many of the tragedies could have been avoided at the state and local level.

Of course, it’s really easy to play Monday morning Quarterback on such things, eh?

I think NOLA has a lot to be proud of with the improvements they’ve made. Quite honestly, a lot of what was done this week could have been done three years ago — and implemented by the LA Governor and NOLA Mayor. Hurricanes are really about the only natural weather disaster we have that knocks on the door and lets you know they’re coming. You just know that Bush got on the phone with that Governor last week and said “You do what needs to be done, or so help me God…” Governors shouldn’t have to be micro-managed by the President of the United States, but Blanco (the Gov. during Katrina) very unfortunately didn’t act in the way she should have, at the time.

In terms of weather reporters – yea, it’s great they’re reporting it, but I absolutely think some of them, like Geraldo, go too far for the sensationalism. I personally don’t want to have to watch one of them get beheaded by flying debris – live, on national TV. They simply don’t have to take such extreme chances by standing in the middle of hurricane force winds. In order to report the story, it’s unnecessary to stand on a rooftop in 130 mph winds just to show us how windy it is.