note to federal government / military: BUY A TELEVISION SET OR AT LEAST A CELL PHONE WITH SPRINT VISION

there has been a levee breach in new orleans, and water is gushing back into the 9th ward.

but... in response to reporters, army corps of engineers: "we are not aware of any breaches at this moment in time."

meanwhile, on fox, the levee on the side of new orleans near the 9th ward is clearly being breached by rapidly gushing water. the cameraman has zoomed in on the breach, and it is currently taking up the full screen on my television set. this image is being broadcasted into millions of homes in the united states, and possibly over a billion around the world.

the competition between television networks naturally provides an incentive for networks to be present at the first sign of disaster. that incentive appears to be stronger than the incentive for the government to respond, despite the fact that the government survives on public approval -- well supposedly at least. i suppose the fluctuations between network dominance of nielsen ratings is more fluid than how quickly people can vote people out of office.

just an idle observation with really wild conclusions. but i really don't have a point here.

update 10:29am - cnn is reporting that the army corps of engineers have announced the breach. this announcement by the army corps of engineers comes almost a full hour and a half after fox news got on the scene and the streets of the 9th ward were already inundated (again); it had just been drained.