Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The failure of governments

There've been too many examples in recent years of governments failing to serve the desperate needs of its citizens in crisis. China, Burma presently, for example ... but we didn't do much better during Katrina, a shocking failure of government right here in the USA. And the consequences of the failure may be with us for years to come.

What does it take to make a government actually work for the benefit of its citizens?
clipped from hosted.ap.org
Children in Katrina trailers may face lifelong ailments
BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. (AP) -- The anguish of Hurricane Katrina should have ended for Gina Bouffanie and her daughter when they left their FEMA trailer. But with each hospital visit and each labored breath her child takes, the young mother fears it has just begun.
"It's just the sickness. I can't get rid of it. It just keeps coming back," said Bouffanie, 27, who was pregnant with her now 15-month-old daughter, Lexi, while living in the trailer. "I'm just like, `Oh God, I wish like this would stop.' If I had known it would get her sick, I wouldn't have stayed in the trailer for so long."
octors cannot conclusively link her asthma to the trailer. But they fear she is among tens of thousands of youngsters who may face lifelong health problems because the temporary housing supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency contained formaldehyde fumes up to five times the safe level.
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