Katrina's aftermath

Somethingawful's servers were the ones being kept going by Interdictor, actually (DirectNic).

I was aware of that fact already. I also won't bother going back to the FEMA numbers (even if they're what I said they would be) because there's basically no way of knowing whether or not they're right. I doubt they're doing scientific polling as people are brought to safety. If they are, as the threat of post traumatic stress disorder looms, I think it would be fairly tasteless.

Read his early journal entries. He was never all that with it to begin with. While I'll admit that he's done a fine job of reporting from the ground, the whole "I'm going to stay and fight it out!" thing was in many ways a giant ego trip (which is why all those entries are public, unlike others he's made in the past) that has also endangered the lives of others, including his girlfriend, who chose to stay with him (and may now have to evacuate. There's been more than a few "if the cops can't stop them, maybe I will" type things that he's said.

no shit?

Seriously. It had been referred to earlier by people replying in the journal, and in a recent entry, he makes note about how he has to cut off their server and its traffic for right now.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000099T2H.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007DGB4E.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000AJMPK.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

chubby computer geek + military/survivalist leanings = war gamer

their friends called S&R teams for them, and they're now safely out.

Just talked to Mel and she just wanted me to tell you that everyone has left NOLA and they are safe. They will be staying with friends in Nashville then to her family in Nebraska and she will post again soon when she can. She thanks everyone for their concern and well wishes and will talk to everyone soon.

"Bigfoot" is a bar manager and DJ on Bourbon Street, and is a local personality and icon in the city. He is a lifelong resident of the city, born and raised. He rode out the storm itself in the Iberville Projects because he knew he would be above any flood waters. Here is his story as told to me moments ago. I took notes while he talked and then I asked some questions:

Three days ago, police and national guard troops told citizens to head toward the Crescent City Connection Bridge to await transportation out of the area. The citizens trekked over to the Convention Center and waited for the buses which they were told would take them to Houston or Alabama or somewhere else, out of this area.

It's been 3 days, and the buses have yet to appear.

Although obviously he has no exact count, he estimates more than 10,000 people are packed into and around and outside the convention center still waiting for the buses. They had no food, no water, and no medicine for the last three days, until today, when the National Guard drove over the bridge above them, and tossed out supplies over the side crashing down to the ground below. Much of the supplies were destroyed from the drop. Many people tried to catch the supplies to protect them before they hit the ground. Some offered to walk all the way around up the bridge and bring the supplies down, but any attempt to approach the police or national guard resulted in weapons being aimed at them.

There are many infants and elderly people among them, as well as many people who were injured jumping out of windows to escape flood water and the like -- all of them in dire straights.

Any attempt to flag down police results in being told to get away at gunpoint. Hour after hour they watch buses pass by filled with people from other areas. Tensions are very high, and there has been at least one murder and several fights. 8 or 9 dead people have been stored in a freezer in the area, and 2 of these dead people are kids.

The people are so desperate that they're doing anything they can think of to impress the authorities enough to bring some buses. These things include standing in single file lines with the eldery in front, women and children next; sweeping up the area and cleaning the windows and anything else that would show the people are not barbarians.

The buses never stop.

Before the supplies were pitched off the bridge today, people had to break into buildings in the area to try to find food and water for their families. There was not enough. This spurred many families to break into cars to try to escape the city. There was no police response to the auto thefts until the mob reached the rich area -- Saulet Condos -- once they tried to get cars from there... well then the whole swat teams began showing up with rifles pointed. Snipers got on the roof and told people to get back.

He reports that the conditions are horrendous. Heat, mosquitoes and utter misery. The smell, he says, is "horrific."

He says it's the slowest mandatory evacuation ever, and he wants to know why they were told to go to the Convention Center area in the first place; furthermore, he reports that many of them with cell phones have contacts willing to come rescue them, but people are not being allowed through to pick them up.

I have "Bigfoot"'s phone number and will gladly give it to any city or state official who would like to tell him how everything is under control.

well, we have poor people forced out of their homes, packed into cars, and heading west to God Knows What, we have reports dead bodies on the luggage racks on top of automobiles...

This makes me so mad I cant see straight. GOD. ARGH. What point all this empty promising from Bushco if it isnt actually happening?

As someone with an American partner and who hopes to become an American himself one day, I hope I can do my part if this happens again.

something's going to happen, and it's gunna be violent. With this happening right as the war is going way it is, something really big and probably really bad is going to happen, and i pray to God that many people won't be hurt and that Something Good will come of it all.

Me too. What use is a National Guard that is afraid of the people it's supposed to be protecting?

The sheer overlay of people involved here is the reason, Michael. Violently protest specifically against...whom?

If I may -- to all and sundry -- much of the reaction around this reminds me of four years ago in this sense: LOTS of axes are being reground, again. Those predisposed to certain conclusions have made them and in some cases are being incredibly vocal about it.

Personally I think Bush has handled the politics of this situation poorly. At the same time I'm not imagining he's supposed to be going around distributing food and water to everyone personally. But that said, one does wonder quite a bit about what he IS doing, asking after, etc. Frankly, my impressions are underwhelmed.

But it isn't just him -- it's a lot of different organizations, local, state, federal, government, non-government. It is quite obvious that the coordination needed has proven to be a dismal, wretched failure. The point is not to blame it on bureaucracy in and of itself, but on a situation that resulted from lack of care and expectations that things would handle themselves otherwise. Inured, I think, to the idea that Americans would somehow never act 'badly' in a dread situation -- that our purported exceptionalism means we are all somehow equally equipped and caring to help each other out 24/7 with a smile on our face (and the unstated expectation that that's all that's needed in order to help) -- many people are now confronting a different reality and either giving into bitterness (how many random calls of 'that's it, I'm buying a gun' have I read over these past few days? too many) or grasping at straws to score political points.

That said, I do not excuse Bush fully. The serious question I could and would ask Bush right now is this -- "Mr. President, you created a cabinet-level position to help protect against further attacks on this country and its citizens, part of the responsibility being to provide coordination in case of emergency from top to bottom among appropriate bodies. This disaster shows that no such coordination existed, or was and has continued to be handled wretchedly while our fellow citizens die. Why is this so, and why should anyone be assured that this situation could not repeat itself with another catastrophic natural or manmade disaster?"

Claims could be made that it is not Bush's responsibility to provide these answers. Well, frankly, bull -- because it is not Bush's responsibility per se but *the President's* -- and any President who found him or herself in this position, regardless of party or intent, would deserve the same question. On that level, Truman's brittle but pointed slogan of "The buck stops here" applies, fully.

Theoretically they could. I'm not so optimistic about it given all of the redistricting and crooked voting machines we've been faced with in the last 5 years.

Some in the Senate(Santorum is a big target, here), and all in the House of Reps.

but perhaps this is better handled on the political thread...

right now, we ain't got much, but this might be the slimmest of basics to start with

lots of diesel drums, packages of bottled water, cops in swat gear, etc

"If you live in the Southeast, you can help out by just packing up, putting water in the back of your truck, coming down here, dropping it, and then getting out of town."

"The federales are fucked, man. we gotta help. okay, you & your brother have a boat, right? and my cousin is best friends with a bottled water distributor. So here's what we do..."

You know, saving the world, DIY-style.

"BENTONVILLE, Ark., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following President
Bush's announcement today that former Presidents Bush and Clinton will lead a
nationwide fundraising effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Wal-
Mart President and CEO Lee Scott contacted President Clinton and the White
House and committed $15 million from Wal-Mart to jump-start the effort.
As part of this commitment, Wal-Mart will establish mini-Wal-Mart stores
in areas impacted by the hurricane. Items such as clothing, diapers, baby
wipes, food, formula, toothbrushes, bedding and water will be given out free
of charge to those with a demonstrated need.
Wal-Mart previously donated $2 million in cash to aid emergency relief
efforts and has been collecting contributions at its 3,800 stores and CLUBS,
and through its web sites [www.walmartfacts.com, http://www.walmart.com,
http://www.walmartfoundation.org, http://www.walmartstores.com, http://www.samsclub.com].
Through its Associate Disaster Relief Fund, the company will also give
displaced associates immediate funds for shelter, food, clothing and other
necessities.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood
Markets and SAM'S CLUBS in all fifty states. Internationally, the company
operates in Puerto Rico, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, United
Kingdom, Argentina and South Korea. The company's securities are listed on
the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT."

Hell, what does Jimmy Carter think of all this? What Clinton thinks, some already have an idea...

(Sorry I mispelled Phil's name above, it's Frazier.)