Having been researching a genocide (the real thing) for three years, I don't like to see the word devalued like this, but with that one proviso I welcome Kirsten's provocative article. Why is Guest G so frightened to see these issues aired?

SRS's arguments are mostly along the lines of "...services to move people were inadequate, but they were not unavailable..." - in other words nitpicking. The fact is that the Mississippi/Louisiana tragedy was predictable; indeed it was specifically predicted. (I myself have been banging on for years about America's vulnerability to climate-change, whether through forest fires, or the permafrost melting in Alaska or storm damage in the south.) To all this, the US admin response has been to stick to its selfish, consumerist program of planet abuse, and to divert funding from flood defences and other national emergencies into a war an Iraq war that will leave the whole region destabilised for generations to come.

And the victims? Lo and behold - mostly what could best be described as a deprived underclass. As a reporter with ITN in the UK put it: "America's shaming secret, the grinding poverty of its urban poor, is now exposed to the gase of the whole world." What perhaps was not foreseen was the extent to which US material interests were focused in one fragile region - as a result of which, the bubble that is the US economy could finally burst.

Kirsten, welcome to this most self-absorbed of forums. I've just looked back at the patronising rubbish you've had to take in earlier threads (you will have had gushing PMs too, and no doubt WYSIWYG will have fired off prayers for your salvation). Because you hung in, I've seen your website, so many thanks. And I've bookmarked the website, so if you decide you've had enough of Mudcat, I'll know where to find you.