When people find out I've been to New Orleans since Katrina, they are bound to ask, innocently, "Have things gotten better there?"

Well the answer is generally no, with some sprinklings of yes around the city. But what truly grates is how unprepared the New Orleans' flood protection system would be if another, not-quite-perfect storm hit.

“If I got my risk reduced by five feet five inches, I’d feel pretty safe,” said Leah Pratcher, (of Gentilly) who along with her husband, Henry, warily returned home from Baton Rouge, La. “Six inches is not going to help us out.” Ms. Pratcher said she would continue to demand change — and to pray. “I do believe in God,” she said. “He’s the person I’m calling on now to help us, because man isn’t doing it.”

Apparently she's unaware that El Presidente is the only person God listens to.