I'll take "Swallow your pride, you son of a bitch" for $200, Alex...

There's no doubt the trail of carnage that Hurricane Katrina has left along the Gulf Coast is insurmountable in terms of lives destroyed, and sheer damage. I've heard quotations of up to $250 Billion in damage, surpassing even that of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Not only has there been physical damage, but a financial impact as well. As one of the United States' largest ports, the New Orleans harbour is witness to the importation of 40% of the United States' oil. In addition, some of the largest oil refineries in the U.S. are currently under water. That's why gas prices have all of a sudden jumped from a previously unforseeable 1.00/L to an even more ridiculous 1.26/L. Now, normally I wouldn't give a rats ass, because Hurricanes are a fact of life down south, however the sheer devastation has inspired me to write about it. Not because I have a particular affinity for the people of the Southern States, but because of the nonsense created by it.

Consider:

• Louisiana's National Guard, which is supposed to be there for disaster relief, is currently working at half-steam because a large chunk of their personnel are in Iraq "securing freedom" for people that didn't ask for help, nor want it in the first place. Now that their own people need help, they are hard pressed to find it considering the President has decided that pissing off Muslim people who just want to be left alone half way around the world is more important than saving lives on their own soil.
  
• Not only is Louisiana's National Guard under-staffed, but this year alone, the Louisiana Hurricane/Flood relief budget has been cut 44%, despite warnings that a disastrous flood in New Orleans was imminent and it being a matter of "when", not "if".
• Here's the kicker though: the United States has refused help from Canada's DART program, which was created to assist government's the world over in case of natural or human disaster. A group of Canadian Aid workers were refused entrance to the United States by the Department of Homeland Security. As far as I'm concerned, they can go fuck themselves now. We offered and sent help, but the American Government, so sure of their First World Supremacy, are basically too embarassed to accept help from the country who is, for all intents and purposes, their little brother. Our guys and gals could be down there helping to save lives, but they've been denied because of a government that can't let go of a grudge and a President who's too fucking stupid to see that his citizens are not going to take much more of the whole "lets- go- blow- shit- up- so- that- people- will- have- something- to- take- their- mind- off- the- fact- that- their- roof- is- caving- in- because- they've- got- medical- bills- equal- to- the- entire- military- expenditure" attitude.

Right now Canadian Agencies are reporting that the reason they have been denied access is because of the "mass confusion", which I'll concede, is a possibility...however the fact that a group of British Columbia aid workers have been denied access by Homeland Security [IE American Thought Police/Gestapo] creates a shadow of doubt in my mind as to how "confused" they are, and confirms how full of shit they really are.

Anyhow, that's my two cents...reporting from Mississauga, I'm Andrew Winter, CBC News...