Surveying The Damage

I had an interesting phone call last night. It was from LSU, a University here, and it was a survey on the attitudes and feelings of residents following Hurricane Katrina. I did answer the survey questions, which the solicitor said was being used to compile a profile of how residents are coping after the great disaster we had August 29th.
I was asked if I had any problems with sleeping, stress, alcohol, frustration etc..and more practical questions such as "What is the biggest problem you are facing after the storm?" and 'Are you happy in your current living situation?". There were many more of course, and all seem directed to gauge the psychological condition of the residents of this area following the hurricane's destruction.
It's interesting to me, given that it has been more than 7 months since the storm hit us, and reflects not only the slow recovery of the city physically, but of the difficulty the residents are having here dealing with the aftermath psychologically. That is, the frustrations the storm brought due to the utter chaos and indecision by government and residents that seems to be the norm now. This tells me the area is struggling to recover, and that the effort it makes to do so will have to be better if life will return to some semblance of normality here.
We have our first elections in my city and parish Saturday. It's quite a sound and fury campaign, with many candidates entered in every contest. The incumbents are all being blamed (rightly or wrongly, depending on the individual's performance after the storm) for the effects of the storm and the slow and inept recovery efforts. The yard signs are in abundance and I have ahd about 5 of the candidates visit my home to electioneer. My phone is inundated with messages from the candidates or their campaign workers urging me to vote for their side.
I think the storm has created opportunity for the opponents to defeat the incumbent, and these politicians all see huge contracts for recovery of the area will be awarded in the next few years that they want to get a piece of by awarding the to friends and supporters who will return the favor indirectly to the politicians who choose their companies for the work.
The German ladies of the night ar being retrained! That is, German prostitutes are signing up for a career change, training to become nurses or working as telemarketers (Well, they aren't much different from the hookers, anyway). So far thirty "older" prostitutes who have been chased from their profession by an oversupply of hookers, falling prices for their services and their own advancing age.
The thirty were recruited by a church funded project in Westpahalia for the retraining, with many more on a waiting list for the career change. It's because the prostitutes hit rock "bottom" with the changing dynamics of the profession. But the re training project coordinator Gisela Zohren says these ladies make especially great telemarketing workers...uh...even off the bed. "After years of prostitution, they know how to listen, look after people and are savvy in selling over the phone."
Miss Zohren is confident the only thing the girls will sell is the products they are asked to "hump and gyrate" over the phone.