In the U.S. media this week, I read more happy talk about "the comeback" of the Gulf Coast, at least in the casino-drenched city of Biloxi. I had to turn to the Canadian media to read about the ongoing mystery of the dead dolphins. Typical, huh? Of course, the "comeback" of Biloxi -- battered first by Hurricane Katrina and then by the BP oil spill -- is dripping with qualifiers and asterisks, if you read between the lines. Here's the good news as reported by the arbiter of good news in America, USA Today:
Today, a glimmering Frank Gehry-designed art museum stands where storm debris once piled up. Gamblers crowd the tables at the Hard Rock and IP casinos. Highway 90, the waterfront artery once littered with splintered homes and upended barges, is sprouting restaurants and rebuilt homes. And this month, Jimmy Buffett ushered in the grand opening of his $62 million Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant on the east side of town with a live concert.
About 4 million visitors came to the city last year, still down from the more than 8 million that visited pre-Katrina but significantly higher than the years immediately after the storm, according to city ...