Only in the last century or two has the matter of mothers – and even fathers – working outside the home become an issue. Before that, everyone was in the "workforce"– at home.

The Middle East received a major jolt with the election of a Palestinian terrorist group. Headlines shouted: HAMAS' WIN PUTS MIDEAST IN A JUMBLE (Kansas City Star); NEW EQUATION SHOCKS MIDEAST (USA Today); HAMAS ELECTION VICTORY SHOCKS WORLD (Associated Press) and HAMAS ROUTS RULING FACTION, CASTING PALL ON PEACE PROCESS (New York Times).

Numerous individuals in the news media seemed appalled by what has turned out to be a refugee-like situation in the Gulf States because of hurricane Katrina. A large portion of the population of the city of New Orleans and other gulf coast cities that have fled the area will be displaced for some time, and some even permanently.

One cable news anchor, standing amid the devastation of New Orleans, outside the Superdome, repeated over and over his disbelief that a refugee situation was taking place right before his eyes, "right here" in the United States.

Saturday's hurricane headline read: "Running On Empty, Fleeing Rita, stuck in traffic." How can you flee when you are stuck in traffic? The approach of Hurricane Rita prompted nearly 3 million people—more than 2.5 million in Texas as well as hundreds of thousands in Louisiana—to evacuate their Gulf Coast homes.

As bad as the destruction and misery have been from storms which have pounded Florida and other southern states these last two years, their worst effects may be yet to come. If all the lettuce is wiped out, or if the English peas are destroyed, no one will starve, because the essential food sources for the United States are soybean, corn and wheat. Even farm animals are dependent on these basic foods. Now future yields of these major crops are in doubt because of unexpected effects of hurricane Ivan last year and Katrina, Ophelia, Rita and other storms yet to come.