With the writers' strike (barely) over, a lot of us have spentmore time reading or watching cable. Thank God for cable, wherethey show the same movies over and over, often on more than onechannel at a time. It wasn't too bad during the first six weeks,when we were able to memorize all of the Cole Porter lyrics from DeLovely. But then things went steadily downhill as the cablenetworks started scraping the bottoms of their barrels with thelikes of Earth Girls Are Easy. Occasionally, we got a reprieve withreruns of the likes of The Producers. But we could always retreatto the Internet world of The New York Times or USA Today (the“McNewspaper”).

The Producers was a hit on Broadway, and a hit movie. Why?Because it was funny and, as it turns out, making fun of historycan be quite effective. But can we make fun of currentdevelopments? A recent headline read: “FEMA Will Test HurricaneTrailers for Formaldehyde.” Well thank you very much! And why arewe in this kettle of fish? Don't we have enough unsolved problemsas a result of Katrina? It has been two and a half years, forheaven's sake!

Did it take the world that long to discover Hitler was amonster? Don't think so. According to the article, FEMA discoveredelevated levels of formaldehyde in the temporary housing structuresthat it supplied to occupants who lived in them for more than twoyears. Well, what's the problem? We let Hitler's forces gas theinnocent, so perhaps killing off the poor in Mississippi andLouisiana isn't such a stretch. Sarcasm aside, there is still truthto that old tried and true saying, “If you don't stand up and speakout, who'll be there when they come after you?” (Better watchout!)

In The Producers, Leo Bloom came up with an ingenious plan tobilk old ladies out of their millions by having them invest inBroadway shows that were destined for failure. In Europe in the1930s, Hitler absconded with riches while putting their owners ingas chambers. Hitler eventually succumbed and Leo Bloom got SingSing (before getting a reprieve).

There will be no reprieve for FEMA; the damage is done. Peopleare getting sicker by the day. Complaints started surfacing in2005. FEMA's response to trailer occupants? Open the windows and/oruse the air conditioner.

How will the eventual outcome affect the insurance industry?Only time, and likely the courts, will tell. One thing's for sure:the real victims of this fiasco are the small children who areparticularly vulnerable to the development of severe allergies,asthma, and chronic skin rashes caused by this kind of exposure.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing along-term study of Gulf Coast children to determine if the trailersand mobile homes they lived in have left a toxic legacy. Let's allhold our breath for that report.