Last evening a longtime friend of mine and longtime photographer for The Times Picayune, New Orleans' daily newspaper, begged police to shoot him. Recognizing his condition, they took him into custody and he is in a jail cell on suicide watch and doctor's care.
He stayed through Katrina and its aftermath getting front page photos for the world to see.
His home in Gentilly was totally destroyed in the floodwaters (caused by neglect of the Army Corps of Engineers) along with all his and his family's belongings and his insurance company refused to pay him anything. It all became too much.
He is in a jail cell because there are no more hospitals in New Orleans except for Touro hospital. All the others were flooded. There are only a few psychiatric beds in the entire metro area so my friend sleeps in a jail cell for his own safety.
No money has trickled down from the federal government to solve any of the problems of destruction such as infrastructure and health systems. Our faith in our government leaders is as tattered and torn as this flag flying in front of a flooded out house in Lakeview with the watermarks still on the frame.