>What came first the chicken or the egg?
>
>Well, when it comes to politics, economics and common sense there seems to be a conflict. Perhaps my engineering background is partially responsible for my way of thinking.
>
>As President Bush said we would rebuild New Orleans and invest 200 billion dollars in the process. However, in my opinion it makes no sense to rebuild New Orleans without first rebuilding and upgrading the levy system. The 3 billion it would cost to upgrade the New Orleans levy system to withstand a category 4 or 5 hurricane seems like a minimal investment. First protect and then rebuild. Oh well, so I think differently. I guess I am not qualified to be a politician. Thank God!

Tom

What you need is good old-fashioned graft. The Brooklyn Bridge was buit well over spec for its time, with too much iron in the girders etc., due to corruption in procurement and supply. However, if it hadn't been for this it never would have been up to the job - traffic loads - that it encounters today, and would have had to be replaced.

Terry