I am following the news about the fires in California, and like many other people, I can't help but compare it to the Katrina mess. The federal government is in a lose-lose situation. If they don't do enough, they look incompetent, but if they do too much, people will say, no wonder, this time it's California, not Louisiana. This time it's rich, white folks, this time it's people who vote. I just wish they had some place for the refugees besides another Superdome.

My wife and I were in that area earlier this month. We worry about relatives, but also about people who are losing beautiful homes in beautiful places. We hope there will not be the kind of death toll that New Orleans had, and that cleanup and rebuilding will not take as long.
Howard