New Orleans levees will not be completely replaced for another year. Many of her poorest citizwns are illegal immigrants who are reluctant to seek government shelter as they have no papers. Odds are Gustav will miss New Orleans but it is good to see the City and Agencies on the alert ahead of this storm.

Good to know that this time around, FEMA is much more prepared. Hey Tim, I've got an idea: how about you start a collection for the poorest of the poor in Louisiana? You seem to care so deeply about the issues, and I know you'd just love to lend a helping hand. Maybe you can also hire a lawyer for those immigrants, who can help them to obtain visas and greencards. And if that fails, they can always go to Canada while appealing their cases, in the meantime maybe you can fix them up with a nice local apartment. :-)

Sure thing SusieK. You plan the social net and come up with a few ideas to fight poverty and war and I'm sure someone will start listening to you. You might even sneak in a bit of your usual worn out right wing rhetoric. You know the stuff that sounds like George Bush's distorted echo. With Katrina several crews of Canadians went to New Orleans to help regardless of the victim's social status in the US caste system.

Oh wow, what troopers, "regardless of the victim's social status"

yeah, that's not snobbery at all. And the U.S. most definitely has no caste system. Sigh, our arguments would be so much shorter if you knew anything about U.S. history. The beauty of this country is that anyone, regardless of financial situation or creed, can come here and raise themselves up to anything they want to be. Ironically, it is Canada and mama England where class matters so much more.

That's a beautiful dream but lacks truth for millions. Canada attempts to be a multi cultural society and tends not to define things by race. In the instances, like aboriginal dealings, where Canada has failed the native population reparations and continued negotiation are sorting out inequities. For instance if you look up any Canadian town you won't find a breakdown of population by race as you do when you look up an American town . Mainstream press in the US were recently asking Is America Ready for a Black President? In Canada a question like that wouldn't be asked. Our Governor General, is a young black woman of Jamaican origin. Some questioned her pollitics but no one questioned her racial origin or whether Canada was "ready" for a black, an immigrant, or a woman as Governor General. I'm afraid you're the ones that unconsciously cling to caste systems of race and privilege.

Yeah right, I still don't buy it. And of course you don't have to worry about opening up Canadian elections to new people... Canada isn't exactly a melting pot, as beautiful a country as it is. The truth is that more people come to America because it frankly promises more opportunities.