How are those levees coming along?

Not so well, says the New York Times:

At the halfway mark between the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina last year and the beginning of the 2006 hurricane season on June 1, the Army Corps of Engineers has completed only 16 percent of its planned repairs to New Orleans's battered flood protection system, according to corps representatives.

The goes on to describe the competing proposals for securing the city -- all of which are running up against the inevitable constraints of money, bureaucracy and time. This puts the reluctance of many NOLA natives to return in context.