When I was diagnosed with cancer a little over four years ago, I saw fellow patients die because they didn't take responsibility for saving the own lives and because they didn't know how to make strategic decisions. This experience is what motivated me to start strategic training the general public instead of just large organizations. I am happey as the truth comes out about Katrina that very few died. Despite the media's and the politicians' efforts to convince us that we will all die unless the federal government instantly takes control, the truth is that our personal survival has always and will always depend on our own efforts and decision-making skills. The more we blindly rely on others, the more dangerous our positoin. The real tragedy of Katrina is that, after the media's misreporting of the real situation for a week, the nation's now believes that only more federal government can save us from hurricanes. In spreading this message, the media is actually killing people, not saving them. Now, if the media could only publicize the stories of self-reliance and personal initiative that actually saved people, they might undo this damage, but given that these stories do little to futher their political agenda of increasing their own power, I doubt it will happen. Update: Of course, it turns out that the federal response for Katrina was better than any other previous hurricane, but as long as the media's standard is that we should be perfectly protected from nature, we will always need more and more government and still the government will always fall short.