"You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie"

Judy is now in Gulfport helping her family cope with the disaster. The people down there are amazing. Through it all they look to the future while standing in the ruins of today, many with a look of determination to overcome no matter what. They've been through it before. It's the price you pay for living in a coastal region.

It's been a rough road around the studio the past few weeks. A crushing workload, computer headaches and in the middle of it all, Katrina. I'm amazed I'm still sane at this point. I'm thankful for the all the work, don't get me wrong, but the circumstances I've had to work around has made it, let's say, interesting. Laying awake at night worrying about friends and family, plus work, and then there is may total distaste for the US government right now and some opinions of the American people.

I'm not going to rant about the people saying "They shouldn't live there. They are stupid not to move knowing this could happen". The Gulf area brings in over 25% of our oil and the major portion of our natural gas. It also supplies a great deal of produce, shrimp, bananas and other imports from South America and around the world. These industries require a work force, those workers have families, and they have families...Get the picture. They got to live somewhere.

An earthquake could wipe San Francisco off the face of the map and I don't see anyone telling Silicon Valley to move or calling them stupid. I guess they figure they are smarter than the people who live there, that they know better...Oh well.

Does the government really care about my welfare?".

No, the Federal Government is clueless about anything but staying in office and maintaining control, They don't care. We only have each other and unfortunately "We the People" are not the government any more. We must learn to respect each others rights and take care of our communities or we as a society will fail. The people always survive, it's the governments that always fail and pass into history as a footnote.

My faith in the government is non-existent. After the past few weeks, I don't think it will be that easy to reestablish anytime in the future.

As a small businessman, I am taxed to death. I would like those taxes I pay to at least be used to make me feel secure in the knowledge that if a disaster strikes and people need help, that help would come when they need it most. That the basics of life would be provided, if only for a short time, so they can once again get back to normal life. Instead I see greedy politicians spending your and my hard earned money, lining their pockets with it like it was their own.

GW Bush and company has increased the size of the Federal Government and Government spending to levels that this country has not seen since WWII. This is the party of "Small Government"? Clinton (and I'm no fan of Clinton) was supposed to be from the Big Government party, but it's a fact he left office with a fiscal surplus. That was spent and exceeded in the first 3 years of Bush's administration, supposedly to "keep us safer". Now the country is in deep debt and crawling in deeper every day.

I only have one question...Do you feel safer?

I don't. Not by a long shot.

Remember, we only have each other. Please become involved in making a change in this country. Your very life may depend on it. Don't believe me? Look no futher than the past few weeks.