That's weird. Didn't notice that the most-affected ones were left out. They were added on the 29th, which is still before the levee broke.

Quote:
I'll try to document the trip as best I can if anyone is interested.

I would be. I have another friend of a friend making a trip down there with a 50 foot truck filled with stuff we bought and am awaiting word from them as well.

Check out the latest news. They're one step away from a forced evacuation of New Orleans. I'd suggest that a drive-in-and-help-out mission would be effective for other coastal communities where no such evacation is in effect.

Meanwhile, my wife had a great idea for how we can help out, once things settle down. She teaches communication and presentation skills. That includes resume writing and mock interviews. I can round up undergrads with computers and printers to help out. Hopefully, we can help set up some of the Houston refugees with jobs.

Here's some interesting stuff:

The Guardian says that there is no substantiation of murder and rape in the Superdome, and have a quote from the NO Chief of Police.

The FAA says "We're controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and none of them reported being fired on".

I wondered about that because of how I heard the story. First it was a woman was raped. Then a woman was raped in the Superdome. Then it was a 7yr. old raped in the Superdome. Then it was a 7yr. old gang-raped in the Superdome.

It seemed to be getting embellished each time. And I was thinking...when you're shoved into a stadium with 20000 odd people and a load of national guard, where do you find somewhere to do that without someone stepping in?

I understand but once the hurricane re-entered the Gulf on Saturday, it was clear to all concerned that evacuation should begin but nothing was done for the people they knew couldn't leave on their own. At that point, 20,000 people could have evacuated using public buses. Buses should have been staged on the upper deck of the Superdome to evacuate people instead of sitting in flooded lots.

AT 10 AM CDT...1500Z...A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF LOUISIANA EAST OF MORGAN CITY TO THE MOUTH OF
THE PEARL RIVER...INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE
PONCHARTRAIN. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS
ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH...185 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. KATRINA IS A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS...
AND KATRINA COULD BECOME A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said at a news conference.

I totally agree, especially given that picture of school buses in a flooded parking lot linked above.

But, in all honesty, where were they going to bus these people to? If people hadn't gotten stranded in New Orleans, if the city had gotten flooded and everyone got out safely beforehand, there wouldn't be all these cities and private citizens opening up to them. And if they'd had somewhere to go, many of them probably would have gone there to begin with. But the desperately poor don't have family and friends in far-flung places, nor can they afford to rent a hotel room.

The Lafayette Cajundome would be the first place that come to mind. Worst case scenario, the buses could have been there after the hurricane blew through for driving people out. Whether they had some place to go or could afford to get there should have been taken into account by city disaster planning.

Sky News I think have it all summed up nicely:



Maybe because he did this? ....

It appears that Brown's resume is exaggerated according to Time Magazine. Not only does it suck ass, but he had to lie just to get it to the current state of suckassedness. Fascinating.

Other Katrina-related outrages of the day:

Bush suspends minimum wage requirements so that the rebuilding effort can be done on the cheap (CNN Money)

White folk ponder a New New Orleans without those pesky brown people (Wall Street Journal by way of Raw Story)

And, finally, some comic relief from a particularly zealous Dick Cheney fan.

Nice Photoshop, but you don't need to exaggerate things to make him look bad though.

Still, 35% of Americans say the goverment did a good or great job. The disconnect from reality is amazing. a completely parallel universe. My anger has once again mellowed and melted into disgust. I really need to get the hell out of this crazy-ass country, I can't see how there is any hope that people will come to their senses.

I see those two articles, and raise you thiss.

White House Enacts a Plan to Ease Political Damage

This is the NYT, not the Onion.

To be fair, he didn't suspend the minimum wage laws, he suspended the prevailing wage laws. The only time prevailing wage laws do anything is when non-union employees work on a federal job, they're paid union rates. I'm not saying this is all right, but I was initially horrified that he would suspend the federal minimum wage.

Matthew

Thank you, that explains it a bit more.

Ah, I didn't appreciate the difference between prevailing and minimum wages. Guess I should have read the article a little closer. Still a very questionable decision.

And now this.

FEMA Chief Taken Off Hurricane Relief Efforts

I think the spin is going to be faster than the hurricane itself, and this is just the beginning.

But... will he get a medal?

I kept looking for a capo.

Maybe that's why the guy in the background looks concerned and is reaching for Bush's hands:

...And that guitar was purchased with your tax dollars. Note the presidential seal?