Comic Book Related Charity efforts. Also more information here. FilkerTom suggests Network for Good.
Harry Potter fans continue to raise money.
Dave lets us know about one church that has taken in refugees.*
Polite Scott is going to assist refugees. Thank you, Scott, and we can wait for the story dissections.
A great story (LA Times) about a Vietnamese Houston Mall owner who took in and helped refugees from NOLA. Thanks for the link, Garrett.
News about the Aquarium and Zoos.
Here is a very good timeline of events in the disaster.
A fascinating view of the Austin Convention Center from Jasmina Tesanovic. Read this one. It's uplifting in a great many ways.
$2000 won't go far, but it will help a lot right now.
Perhaps the absolute best news yet, Coast Guard's Chief of Staff To Assist FEMA (Washington Post). If Brown is smart, he'll give Allen control since the guy has actual credentials and knows how to help people in a disaster. Via Collective Sigh.
Medication for refugees. One reason people are having a really difficult time is because they don't have their medications with them, and going "cold turkey" can cause huge problems.
Truly Chilling, an account from Charmaine Neville of the events in NOLA. This is a video, but it's worth watching.
When did facts become opinion?
An EPA accounting of New Orleans.
Another FEMA screw-up: FEMA webpages only accessible via IE or installing special software on other browsers. If we had a leader in this country, the head of FEMA would already have been replaced.
Yet more FEMA stupidity. When did FEMA become so useless?
Navy pilots are reprimanded for rescuing people using helicopters specifically designed for rescue operations.
The Blame Game. And, why now is absolutely the best time to "play the blame game".
Check out Here's What Gets Me. And Garrett fumes.
Meanwhile, Bush doesn't think anything went wrong. That might be because newspapers in Bushworld have completely different stories than in the real world.
Here's what I don't blame Bush and FEMA for: I don't blame them for the hurricane, nor for the lack of evacuation plans (that was truly a local issue). I don't blame them for the deaths that happened during and immediately after the hurricane. I don't even blame them for the failure of the levees, unlike many others, because the problems with the levees started 40 years ago.
Here's what I do blame Bush and FEMA for: The lack of security in the city following the hurricane. The National Guard should have been in the city in force within 24 hours after the storm had passed. The city was accessible and everyone with a brain knew there was damage (a category 4 hurricane hit, you'd have to be a true moron to not realize the city needed the Guard immediately). The fact that no one evacuated the people left in the city for days after the hurricane (pre-hurricane=local problem, post-hurricane=FEMA's problem -- in short, once the disaster hit, the whole area was FEMA's responsibility by law). Any deaths that could have been prevented if the Guard entered the city in a timely manner are on Bush and FEMA's head. The fact that the levee wasn't being repaired soon after it broke is FEMA's fault and Bush's responsibility. The refusal to let the Red Cross into the city is FEMA's fault and Bush's responsibility.
How the DNC reacted to hurricane Katrina.
Wonkette found an example of FEMA moving very fast, indeed.
Don't forget the poor died all over.
I hope that this isn't true.
More timelines. These will eventually be crucial in determining what went wrong so we can prevent it from happening again.
The Daily Show's list of Bush Admin Disasters is truly one of the funniest things I've seen in these horrible recent days.
Making Light continues their excellent coverage of the hurricane with an article about how people were forced to stay in NOLA when there was no help available inside the city.
Slightly unrelated: Bush by the Numbers. Also, Chemo patients forced to reschedule because Bush was going to visit. If you know anything about chemo, you know rescheduling is a REALLY bad thing. Bush's visit may well have cost people their lives.
*A note regarding the word "refugees". I have heard it argued that the word is somehow racist. It isn't. It's a word about people taking refuge from something. In this case that something is the dangers of disease in NOLA. I've heard it argued that the word has negative connotations. Of course it does! It implies disaster of some sort. I've heard it argued that it implies poor black people. It doesn't to me. My first thought when I hear "refugee" is of Serbia. And so, I'll continue to use the word. If it offends you, I suggest you find something better to do with your time than read my blog.
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