7.5 Tons of Angry Steel

The US Navy just christened a new amphibious assault ship the USS New York, which will interest most people primarily because 7.5 tons of the ship's steel was salvaged from the 9/11 Ground Zero.

You know, I'm always glad to raise the one-finger salute to al-Qaeda and its affiliated ghouls. But I have mixed feelings at best about this particular gesture, especially since the dedication for the ship took place in Louisiana (where the ship was built). It seems to me like a more fitting gesture would have been put that steel and that money into rebuilding the levees and the other storm-mitigation infrastructure in New Orleans. Because ultimately I think it's better to tend to one's own than to spite one's enemy.