Scribbles from a Hawthorne Fangirl
September 1st, 2005 
07:36 am - More Hurricane Katrina Relief Links, Pt 4
liz_marcs: Jeff and Annie in Trobed's bathroom during Remedial Chaos Theory (Xander Known Sorrow)
Once more pimping:

The American Red Cross relief efforts. Choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.

Second Harvest, the food bank network, relief efforts. To donate funds, go here.


The American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) have started their relief efforts. As I noted with the Southeast Asian Tsunami, the American Friends focus not just on the immediate need, but long-term rebuilding needs. The real need for the refugees will start a month and two months from now when (hopefully) they will be allowed to return home.

I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout-out to by Unitarian-Universalist hommies. The Service Commitee has established the Gulf Coast Relief Fund.

Catholic Charities also has a Katrina Fund set up. Another very good organization that works hard year-round on poverty issues and has expertise in getting maximum bang for the buck.

I don't normally post links to religious relief organizations, but the Quakers, Unitarians, and (strangely enough) Catholic Charities are hardcore about remaining nonsectarian in providing aid and relief, especially in times of crisis, so if you're concerned about stealth evangelism in times of stress but want to give your money to reliegious organizations, none of these groups will do it.

[livejournal.com profile] dogemperor has a has a comprehensive list of the good (nonsectarian), the bad (Dominionist and/or practitioners of stealth evangalism), and the questionable (sympthetic Dominionist leanings) for religious aid organizations that will be running aid to the hurricane-affected states.

In addition, NBC announced that on Friday their networks will host a Concert for Hurricane Relief. MTV Networks will also start on Sept. 10 to raise funds for the American Red Cross. The MDA Labor Day Telethon will include appeals for Hurricane Disaster Relief and the MDA will donate $1 million to the Salvation Army.

And finally, send some good thoughts and love to [livejournal.com profile] cafedemonde on my Flist. She has relatives among the missing in NOLA and hasn't been able to get word if they're okay.

[livejournal.com profile] insomnia is continues his updates on the crisis unfolding in the Gulf States.
02:19 pm - Hurricane Katrina: Breaking News Links and Ranting
liz_marcs: Jeff and Annie in Trobed's bathroom during Remedial Chaos Theory (Not Bugs Bunny)
Once more pimping:

The American Red Cross relief efforts. Choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.

Second Harvest, the food bank network, relief efforts. To donate funds, go here.


Nice to see Condi Rice has her fucking priorities in order.

Shoe shopping. Always should be a number one priority for high-powered chicks in times of national crisis. And don't forget to get pissed at people who remind you that you've got a job to do and that you're not doing it.

Go the Tough New York Broad who gave Condi what-for and found herself escorted out of the store by security.

Also looks like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Commerce Department also have their priorities in order.

HELLO! HELLO! We have a fucking national crisis going on!

I've got a massively good idea!

Cancel the Propaganda March on September 11 and focus on rescuing people in the Gulf States. I'm pretty sure people will totally understand, especially since HHS is one of the main agencies that should be focused on health and sanitation for refugees as well as dealing with the health situation in NOLA. Just sayin'.

Oh, and by the way, when the staunchly ultra-Conservative Republican Manchester Union-Leader essentially calls Bush on not doing his job, you know that an awful lot of people are going to remember that he ate cake while NOLA flooded and descended into chaos.

I don't care what our Preznit said today, the Times-Picayune is reminding everyone willing to take a peak at their electronic archives that we've known for years something like this was coming. FEMA warned that this very scenario was going to happen in 2001. Oh, and sir, looking out the window of Air Force One while you fly over NOLA at 3,000 feet does not spell "I care" to me. However, it does reinforce my idea that you're incapable of sympathizing with anyone not you.

And before anyone starts playing "blame Clinton" (because you know some right-wing fucker will), in 1995 Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA), which involved massive funds getting pumped into the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an effort to upgrade flood protections for NOLA. In 2003, that money got cut in favor of tax breaks and for diversion to Iraq.

Kinda like how roughly 3,000 National Guardsmen from hard hit Louisianna and Mississippi combined are in Iraq, along with their equipment. This leaves a mere 3,500 members of the Louisianna National Guard to keep the peace not just in NOLA, but statewide.

Let's put this in perspective: in 1992, President Bush I send 25,000 troops into Florida to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. And by the way, President Bush I was criticized by everyone and their brother at the time for not being responsive enough to the misery following Hurricane Andrew.

Furthermore, we knew on Friday that the Mississippi and Louisianna were screwed.

So if anyone in the federal government claims they had no fucking clue that our fellow citizens in the Gulf States were in the crosshairs, they are lying their asses off.

Don't let them get away with it.

Don't let this go down the memory hole.

The Times-Picayune, WWLTV — NOLA, and Editor & Publisher aren't going to let you.

And whatever you do, do not go to CNN. It'll only make you furious, angry, and you'll want to cry. The people of NOLA have, in effect, been abandoned.

If this pisses anyone off? Tough. I'm just the messenger. I can't make this shit up if I tried.
06:26 pm - More Katrina News Links
liz_marcs: Jeff and Annie in Trobed's bathroom during Remedial Chaos Theory (Xander Known Sorrow)
Once more pimping:

The American Red Cross relief efforts. Choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.

Second Harvest, the food bank network, relief efforts. To donate funds, go here.


Via [livejournal.com profile] ad_kay: [livejournal.com profile] interdictor remains in New Orleans and is among the people on the ground fighting to save the city. His blog is a "must read" for people interested in getting a first-hand account of the tragedy unfolding there.

MoveOn.org via its Web site is coordinating efforts to get people displaced by Katrina free housing.

Don't forget to chek out Wikipedia's page on Hurricane Katrina.

Fats Domino is one of the missing NOLA natives in the wake of Katrina.

Speaker of the House Hastert says that he supports an emergency bailout, but raised questions about a long-term rebuilding effort. Which I'm sure the people of New Orleans really, really need to hear right now.

Try not to let your blood pressure rise upon reading this, but Jamaica has offered to send aid and personel to help the devastated region, but the U.S. government has refused the offer. I had read something similar about Canada offering to help and the U.S. government turning them down, but because the only source I could find was a liberal blog and not a legit news organization, I couldn't post it here in good conscience. However, we have confirmation from Jamaica that this is going on. Good enough.

The head trauma surgeon at Charity Hospital is begging for help to get his patients evacuated while he watches Tulane University Hospital just down the street complete its evacuation. Here's the thing: Charity Hospital is one of the poorest hostpials in the nation. It serves people who have no health insurance and no money to pay for care. Tulane is where the people with health insurance go. According to a Charity Hospital nurse who called in to AirAmerica today as part of the staff's effort to get the word out to any and all government officials who might be listening: they have no food, no water, no electricity. They're fighting off looters and they're fighting to keep patients alive and safe in stone age conditions.

As for my last rage-fueled post, let me be clear:

I've been trolling all over the place for news where I could find it. It's my never-quite killed reporter's instinct kicking in. I've got the Google-fu skillz, and I've got the soapbox. I can't resist. So I've been posting links with little or no comment.

However, today was just too much and the frustration spilled over. People are dying on the streets. Law enforcement officials on the ground are in tears. The devastation across the region is apocalyptic in nature and scope.

And I've been treated to a dose a of Marie Antoinette from the Administrative Branch of our Government.

Luckily, the Legislative Branch is not. Congress plans to pass emergency aid before tomorrow morning. In addition, some House members are proposing legislation that would prevent new bankruptcy provisions from harming Gulf Staters now facing financial catastrophe because of Katrina.
10:51 pm - Updated Katrina News Links
liz_marcs: Jeff and Annie in Trobed's bathroom during Remedial Chaos Theory (Xander Known Sorrow)
In all honesty, I think I'm taking tomorrow off from this. I'm tired. My head hurts. I have a desire to down a bottle of wine.

Yup. Now I remember why I left newspapers for a relatively sane writing occupation.

The American Red Cross relief efforts. Choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.

Second Harvest, the food bank network, relief efforts. To donate funds, go here.


First, something that'll be useful to everyone:

There are several sites that track gas prices in cities across the U.S. It's a good way to help you find cheap(ish) gas. I know I use Gas Buddy. Another site you can check is Gas Watch. Both sites take reports "from the field," i.e., motorists, on gas prices. While you might not see all gas stations listed, you'll soon find out who matches the cheap gas prices within a reasonable distance of where you live.

Massachusetts colleges and universities will take in college and university students from the Gulf States. Maine is doing the same thing. While I can't find a link specifically for this, the grapevine has it that Boston University will be opening its doors to Tulane Students and giving them a space at the school (the two universities have a long-standing relationship). Tulane students will be able to transfer to BU and back to Tulane with no penalty in credit hours.

Sovereign Bank in New England is collecting Red Cross donations and will match funds for the first $50,000 collected. I know Sovereign Bank has other branches outside of New England, so check with your local branch if you have any.

via [livejournal.com profile] smashsc: I was remiss earlier by not pointing out that BET is running a Katrina telethon. The page they've got devoted to the relief efforts is kickass, so check it out.

via [livejournal.com profile] airawyn: Kung Fu Monkey is also offering matching funds for the Red Cross. He's apparantly offering proof that he plans to do this. Since I trust [livejournal.com profile] airawyn, I'm posting it here.

via [livejournal.com profile] ginmar: the Parrotheads are mobilizing nationwide to bring relief to Katrina refugees.

[livejournal.com profile] katrinarelief is tracking relief efforts and grassroots efforts to bring aid to the hardest hit areas.

Now this is something you don't see every day. Jack Cafferty on CNN completely lost his shit on-air over the sluggish federal response to the tragedy unfolding in NOLA. CNN's Anderson Cooper also lost his shit. Cooper probably has the better excuse. He's been on the ground in NOLA since the whole thing began. Warning: High traffic at the site means that you might have a hard time getting the videos to play. Trust me. Both are jaw-droppingly impressive to see.

FEMA is taking the 'blame the victims' approach. With all due respect, most of the people who stayed in NOLA were dirt poor with no means to get out of the city or were people who couldn't leave because they had dependent family members. Yes, you had some people who wanted to "dance with Katrina," but I'd lay good money that three quarters of those people would've been gone if they had the means. Witness the number of people who descended on the Superdome or tried the "vertical evacuation" option. I've been in NOLA. Walk one or two blocks outside of the tourist areas (any tourist area) and you walk right into scary poverty. It's a city where you have money, or you don't. And for a city the size of NOLA, there weren't a whole lot of cars (by comparison with, say, NYC, Boston, or LA). The entire city was networked with mass transportation because that's how the vast majority of people got around. So, yeah. Shut-up and do your job instead of making excuses.

Furthermore, not all evacuees are equal in the eyes of rescue efforts. Just ask [livejournal.com profile] interdictor.

Fats Domino has been found and has been evacuated from the city. His condition is reportedly "good."

Offers of help from the international community are coming in. Given the article about Jamaica's offer of help being turned away, this needs to be repeated over and over. Maybe it'll put pressure on the administration to accept.

God bless, Houston. The first refugees have arrived at the Astrodome where conditions are controlled and much safer than the situation was in the Superdome, which turned very quickly into a real life disaster movie. To show my appreciation, I will refrain from making any jokes about Texas for a month. Maybe even two.

ETA: I spoke too soon. CNN is reporting that the Astrodome is now turning away NOLA refugees.

[livejournal.com profile] dawnmipb has more links about other states and cities stepping up to help.

The Senate has approved $10.5 billion in aid to the hurricane ravaged areas.

National Geographic has a 1994 article about NOLA's vulnerabilities in the face of a killer storm. The opening paragraphs, written last year, are an eerie repeat of today's news.

The Guardian has an excellent overview article about what went wrong with relief efforts. Worth the read.

via [livejournal.com profile] the_red_shoes: [livejournal.com profile] matociquala is blogging news and information links about the Gulf States and Katrina in particular. Her sources are slightly less conventional than mine. While I am a loud and proud member of the People's Republic of Massachusetts, I've been fairly careful about finding links from mainstream news organizations and using those whenever possible. Her sources fall more on the left-wing side of the divide.

speaking of [livejournal.com profile] matociquala: she linkes to an article that explains, in excruciating detail the logistical nightmare Gulf Coast cities were faced with. The article also points out that we lost 9 major cities in Louisianna and Mississippi. The math is hard to read because it makes your head and heart hurt.

The Times-Picayune reporters and editors deserve medals for operating under fire and for using technology to continue reporting from NOLA. I've worked as a reporter during in much, much smaller natural disasters (one tornado, one hurricane, several nor'easters) and those were unbelievably hard to work. I can't imagine the hell these reporters and editors are going through as they watch their city crumble around them. And you know the paper's taking a huge financial hit to do its job. This is what a newspaper should be.
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