Another Point of Singularity

"the Big Sleazy" remains one of my favorite American cities, a place I've had a great time in for much of my adult life. I like the way that it feels so much older than other American cities. Just about every urban center tears down the traditional and erects glass and steel monstrosities in the name of progress loses a bit of its soul. Not so New Orleans, where they seem to cherish older things-- older architecture, older customs, older art and music. And they have an old-fashioned sense of fun, too.

I've been to New Orleans countless times in my life; I proposed to my wife there. Needless to say, my heart goes out to the citizens of New Orleans for the catastrophe that they are facing right now.

New Orleans, if you are not up on your geography, is a giant bowl located below sea level, with a giant dam (called a levee) keeping the Mississippi River out. Well, 500 feet of the Levee has collapsed, and the storm has dumped about ten feet of water into New Orleans proper, to fill the bowl up to be level with the river and Lake Ponchitrain. About a thousand people might be dead.

There's a good charity out there, the McCormick Hurricane Relief fund. The McCormick foundation is paying the admin costs themselves, so every dime is going to the people that need it. And people will be needing it.

If you can spare some, you might want to send some help their way. I did.

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