And we've learned a great deal about what we can do -- and shouldn't do -- to help rebuild and revitalize our cities and metropolitan areas for the future.

WHITEHOUSE: Talking Jobs with America��s Mayors

Knowing what's to come, we can't help but do the same.

WSJ: Ayrton Senna | Aggression With Lucidity | By Richard B. Woodward

We just ask that, if there's any way possible, tell the people when they get here to be patient--we're all doing all that we can--and be ready to volunteer to help us get this stuff off the trucks 'cause we can't do crowd control and get the stuff off the trucks as well.

NPR: Gulfport Takes Stock of Disaster

And if their employer, especially if it's a small employer, wants to give them health insurance, the costs are so prohibitive that they can't do it even if the employer wants to help.

WHITEHOUSE: Online Town Hall

And yet, while Di Maria was obviously foolish to do what he did, you can't help but have a teeny, tiny bit of sympathy.

WSJ: Angel Di Maria's Delay Tactics Leave Real Madrid Seeing Yellow��Gabriele Marcotti

Maybe I've become too cynical watching what universities try to do to students between matriculation and graduation, but I can't help thinking that all of these trends--including the sad passings of places like Albiani's Cafeteria and the Patisserie Francaise--are somehow interconnected.

FORBES: The Coddling Campus

The problem is that our legal aid clinics -- Tulane, Loyola, NoLAC -- all of these clinics have been so overburdened with cases that have to do with Katrina, that a lot of people can't get access to legal help.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Holds Town Hall in New Orleans