This is an article by Mary Carmichael of Newsweek. It is about the long-term health effects of Hurricane Katrina on the children of Baton Rouge and elsewhere.
The children are "the sickest I have ever seen in the US.," says Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund and a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
"Forty-one percent are anemic-twice the rate found in children in New York City HOMELESS shelters, and more than half the kids have mental problems, 42 percent have respiratory problems. The list goes on, and it is said that the trailers distributed by FEMA have even contributed to the problem.
These people just can't catch a break and if they ask for one all hell breaks lose, in the richest country in the world. I think people need to understand the value of social programs. It is more than just compassion or equality. You could even think about it in economic terms. If you want a certain sector or industry to do well what do you do? You invest in it. Anything, from a house, a car, to people. You want to increase the value of anything you invest it. If want to maintain our place in the world we have got to invest in our people. ALL our people. Or we most certainly will ALL lose.
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