Out of an uptown New Orleans gutter today I pulled a crumpled faded note that read:

"Note to self, continue enriching u _ _ _ _ _ _. Need alternative energy source with today's Chevron Oil's maleic anhydride leak. Sure hope residents stay indoors. Murphy Oil paying $330 million for its Katrina leak"

What could U be? And who could have written the note?

With the Congressional Homeland Security Committee Susan Collins (R), Ted Stevens (R), George Voinovich (R), Norm Coleman (R), Tom Coburn (R), John Sununu (R), Pete Domenici (R), John Warner (R), Barak Obama (D), Chairman Joe Lieberman (?) and Mary Landreau (D) invited to Louisiana for 8/29 hearings, it could have been anyone.

Actually only the last three showed so that narrows it down substantially.

Could it be from Mary? Landreau has been quoted in Roll Call saying, "I often think we would have been better off if the terrorists had blown up our levees. Maybe we'd have gotten more attention."

I uncrumpled the note further and it read, "Seriously, look into e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ uranium. Could offset bankrupt New Orleans branch of Entergy company. Strangely, it looks like they tripled their national energy profits this quarter."

Could it be Barak? Obama has mentioned that "we may be in danger of actually forgetting New Orleans." Nothing would bring it back to national attention faster than e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ r a n i u m.

Or maybe Lieberman, who's in charge of the Katrina branch of the Homeland Security Committee? Taking the road more traveled, he has said he will not hold hearings on the Administration's actions and play a game of "gotcha." No word on whether he plans to incorporate games of Chutes and Ladders or Hungry Hungry Hippoes into later 8/29 investigations.

Four hundred children were turned away from New Orleans school admission this semester. Not enough room for them. Bill Cosby on a recent visit said, "There's a great disrespect for children, not just African-American children, but children throughout these United States," according to the Times-Picayune.

Insightful but not incendiary.

There was a violent outburst on the West Bank today. Not the Gaza Strip, New Orleans. Cars started pulling over to fire shots into the melee and a bystander was killed leaving a convenience store. An 18-year old was booked with second-degree murder.

A 13-year old boy just killed himself playing Russian Roulette.

And a 17-year-old ran out of St. Charles Parish Hospital and drowned in a retention pond before anyone could save him. The Sheriff's office did not have information on why the boy was in the hospital.

We're losing our children so quickly. Dinerral Shavers, Jr., 7, could be lost in a different way without help. A budding drummer, his musician father was killed in crossfire meant for someone else last month.

Whoever is enriching u _ _ _ _ _ _, I'm sorry someone more important did not find your note. We need intervention, and what you are claiming to do has been known to send hundreds of thousands of young people and billions of dollars in aid into a land in crisis.

Despite being left out of the State of the Union address and the Road Home grants, the state of the Gulf Coast is still in crisis.