9/2/2005, 5:14 pm

Researches are baffled by the state of affairs in New Orleans. The lawlessness, looting, bands of criminals and overall third-worldliness of the town has caught many by surprise.
"By definition, the third world results from location," said Liam Johns, the best funded and most respected expert. "If your country is unlucky enough to be located in a third world location on the map, nothing can be done." Mr Johns further stated, "the situation in New Orleans is a direct result of climactic change, hence creating a "third world" climate and the inevitable creation of a "third world" city. In this case, latitude and longitude are artificially altered, so the current theory holds water.
However, new theories are being proposed, including the amazingly-novel idea that "Third World" is a mentality separate from longitude and latitude.
Jasper Lonard, who has been unable to get funding and works out of his basement, explains his new radical theory. "If a person becomes completely selfish in the face of a crisis, steals from his neighbor, kills and rapes for fun, and leaves the sick for dead, that person is a 'third world' person" stated Mr. Lonard bluntly. "If you get enough people like this together without the iron fist of law, you will have a third world city or country. Latitude and longitude mean nothing."
Mr. Lonard is a pariah, and his theories have resulted in death threats. The New York Times has called Mr. Lonard "a sick pervert with crazy ideas and unfounded principles and unsubstantiated crazy claims."