Former syndicated columnist Don Feder, a well-known conservative writing for the Boston Herald from 1983-2002, believes that Hurricane Katrina was God's wrath, and he has run the numbers to prove it: Katrina hit New Orleans one week to the day after the Sharon government carried out the forced removal of some 9,500 Jewish residents of Gaza and parts of Samaria. ... 9,500 Jews were driven from Gaza. Most are still homeless. Roughly half-a-million Americans were displaced by Katrina. Based on America's population ... read more

Tropical Storm Rita, likely to become a category 1 or category 2 hurricane by the time it reaches Key West tomorrow, is projected to move into the Gulf of Mexico, where it will find plenty of hot water to build strength. Meteorological alarmist Jeff Masters offers this advice: The entire stretch of coast from 500 miles south of Brownsville, Texas to Mobile, Alabama is at risk -- no one can say with any confidence where Rita will hit this far in advance. Texas and Louisiana are at the highest risk. The current ... read more

In the weekly Democratic response to the presidential radio address Saturday, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco thanked the people who reached out to the Gulf after Hurricane Katrina, supporting President Bush's plan to offer "extraordinary" federal support for the region's recovery. "Only the resources of the federal government are adequate to the challenge ahead," she said. The text of her remarks: Good morning. This is Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. I speak for a grateful state to thank people ... read more

There's a new tropical depression forming in the Caribbean at latitude 13.0 north, longitude 55.0 west. Tropical Depression 17 has the potential to become Hurricane Philippe around the time it nears the islands of the Lesser Antilles on Monday, according to Jeff Masters: TD 17 is here, and will likely be the first major hurricane of September. This storm will be with us for the next two weeks, since it is moving slowly and has a large area of ocean ahead of it. The storm is in a an environment favorable for ... read more

People would go up the bridge every time they lined us up for the buses and the buses wouldn't come. People in groups would go up the bridge trying to go across the river. People who had family across the river couldn't get across the river. They were not letting us out of there. -- Denise Marsh, a Convention Center evacuee interviewed on This American Life (audio attached) For all you people who think we are races in Gretna, please leave your address, we will be glad to bus all the criminals to your home town. ... read more

A columnist for the Orlando Sentinel ponders the political impact of having so many New Orleans-area voters living in other states, perhaps permanently. Even while carrying the state in 2004, Bush lost Orleans Parish by almost 110,000 votes out of fewer than 200,000 cast. Without Orleans Parish, Landrieu would not be in the Senate, and Blanco's election could have been very, very close. ... read more

As the situation grew steadily worse in New Orleans last week, you might have wondered why people didn't just leave on foot. The Louisiana Superdome is less than two miles from a bridge that leads over the Mississippi River out of the city. The answer: Any crowd that tried to do so was met by suburban police, some of whom fired guns to disperse the group and seized their water. Around 500 people stuck in downtown New Orleans after the storm banded together for self-preservation, making sure the oldest and youngest ... read more