A massive state and federal effort, the likes of which we've never seen is going to be needed. We can do it for tsunami victims half a world away. We can do it for our own citizens.
A year later, the worst case scenario happened. And this wasn't even a direct hit. Can you imagine what might've happened if the hurricane and made landfall to the WEST of New Orleans. There's be nothing left.
Courtney has seen me fly into a fit of rage when a taxi cab driven by an African American or someone from India or Pakistan won't pick us up and I yell,'What do you have to do to be accepted in this country?
How could this happen? How could the city, the state and the federal governments be some unprepared? it wasn't like there weren't warnings.
I asked him if he ever hung out with black guys in high school and he said, 'Well, no. They always had these angry looks on their faces. Who wouldn't look ticked off having to deal with nitwits like him?
I get bitter, angry and disbelieving and I tell my kids there a lot of idiots out there. I also want them to know that being successful is not the real world - that their parents get treated better because they're on TV.
In our society leaving baby with Daddy is just one step above leaving the kids to be raised by wolves or apes.
In the pregnancy process I have come to realize how much of the burden is on the female partner. She's got a construction zone going on in her belly.
In this case, there is plenty of blame to go around. And the people who pay the price are the ones who can least afford to pay it.
Last year, when we were in Mobile, Al., covering Hurricane Ivan, we heard the stories of poor people, many of them black stranded downtown because they had no way out.
My first college roommate greeted me with a shocked silence followed by, 'So... you're black.'
They wrapped her up like a baby burrito to show to Mom. Here were a mother and her daughter and I love them both so much. I couldn't wait for Courtney to come to the hospital so I could have all my women together.
Watching the scenes out of New Orleans, if you turn down the sound it could be the Sudan or any Third World country. But it's not. it's the United States of America.
We heard stories of how the levees, only designed under the best of circumstances to withstand a Cat. 3 hurricane, were in disrepair and needed to be overhauled.
When Courtney's mother and I first separated I tried to be Disney Dad, showering her with gifts, trips and then I snapped out of it. You don't have to try to impress your kids. If they're not getting what they need from you, they will let you know.
An effective human being is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Form and function are a unity, two sides of one coin. In order to enhance function, appropriate form must exist or be created.
Al hosted MSNBC's information quiz show, Remember This?, which earned Al a 1997 Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Game Show Host.
Al holds the record for most guest appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, with over 30. Roker is considered one of Late Night's "go to" guy whenever a scheduled guest cancels.
Al married Deborah Roberts on September 16th 1995. They have had two children. They are still married today.
When Williard Scott retired in 1996, Al was offered the job as weatherman for The Today Show.
Al worked weekends as a weather reporter at a station in 1974 when he was in college.
He wanted to be a cartoonist before he got into television.
Rumor has it that his salary on Today is $1,500,000.