So far, so good; Rita is no Katrina. A "wimp of a storm" writes Jason at Rita.911blogs.com. Some power outages, but otherwise not so bad writes John ByTheBayou.

Several computer models show Rita running northeast then doubling back over Louisiana, southwest, right over Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans. Let's hope not, since Rita's rain has already burdened some levees to the point of breaking -again.

In today's Times (and free of charge) NBC's Brian Williams writes about 1965's "unhappy alliance of wind and water" that, along with Huey Long and electoral politics, brought LBJ to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Betsy.

The desperate appeals of water deprived flood victims prompted Johnson, in the days before bottled water, to suggest aid to the citizens of New Orleans in the form of Coca Cola.

I'd be interested in how much difference there was in looting between then and now.