A House inquiry dubbed the response to Hurricane Katrina a “national failure”.

It said the Federal Emergency Management Agency suffered from a shortage of trained and experienced personnel.

U.S. President George W. Bush apparently escapes major criticism in the report. Instead, the report says he received poor and incomplete information during the crisis, and the White House had trouble sorting out conflicting reports about levee breaches.

But New Orleans Mayor Ray Naglin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Bianco are singled out and criticized for delaying their decisions to issue evacuation orders, saying it led to deaths and suffering.

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff is also slammed for not effectively carrying out his overall responsibilities for the federal disaster relief during Katrina.

You could also cite GWB for picking someone to head up FEMA who had absolutely ZERO experience in regards to emergency response! Sigh.

And the second item of bad news…to be filed under “What the blank were they thinking?”… my favourite TV show at the moment that isn’t a reality competition got the boot.

Unless the Ceeb snags some good dramas (and a comedy) to take their places, there–sadly–won’t be much left on there I’ll want to watch, except for curling, hockey, and the remaining comedies. CBC has, IMO, aired some fantastic drama series in the past; and it would be a shame it they didn’t continue in that tradition. :(