Katrina's aftermath

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.)

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Since 1970, ACORN has grown to more than 175,000 member families, organized in 850 neighborhood chapters in 75 cities across the U.S. and in cities in Canada, the Dominican Republic and Peru.

ACORN's accomplishments include successful campaigns for better housing, schools, neighborhood safety, health care, job conditions, and more.

ACORN members participate in local meetings and actively work on campaigns, elect leadership from the neighborhood level up, and pay the organization's core expenses through membership dues and grassroots fundraisers.

ACORN has constantly challenged the traditional notions of what a community organization is, and its family of organizations includes two radio stations, a voter registration network, a housing corporation, and several publications.

Ed,
I need YOUR help! I am currently arranging for a bus to go down to New Orleans and bring back families to the great state of North Dakota. My problem is my repeated contacts to the red cross, have yielded little help. I need a contact person or site in New Orleans and also one in Fargo. I have arranged for the bus and most of the funds needed to fuel the trip; however I can’t proceed unless I can get a contact site or person at both ends (New Orleans and Fargo).

I am hoping with some of your connections you could help with is.

but there gotta be countless more already...

Oh gosh! I missed that completely in the hoo haa. Thank god!

i imagine they're pretty overwhelmed. they haven't responded to my inquiry yet either, and that was days ago.

Report: Explosions Heard, Flashes of Light Seen Around Superdome

-- Fritz Wollner (fritzwollner5...), September 2nd, 2005 2:45 AM. (Fritz) (later)

I really wish I hadn't clicked that. Some people are sick in the fucking head.

Get that guy a newspaper subscription.

even harry connick jr. said he could move freely about the city!

xpost

This is exactly what I wanted Paula Zahn to say last night when FEMA head claimed to have only recently found out about the Superdome situation.

Hey Pete. Yeah, Derek is still in his apartment as far as I know. I'll find out if anyone has been able to get ahold of him today.

Are you thinking of Jack Brass on the Rebirth message board? That's not me actually, that's Mike Olander from a brass band in Minneapolis. But yeah, he's doing the right thing.

I'll e-mail you if I hear anything this weekend. I'm going to see if I can get together some drums to ship to Derrick and Keith this weekend so they can keeping rolling. Thanks for keeping up and writing about this stuff.

Aid is reaching these people now it seems, but not enough to overcome the notion of scarcity and obvs these folks are desperate to be sated first.

I lived in NYC on 9/11 and although the levels of hysteria on 5th Ave below 14th were high that morning, nothing approached this level of pandemonium. My thoughts have been with New Orleans nonstop since the coverage of the storm preparation began. I can't help but think of this family of a man, his girlfriend and her three year old riding it out on a shrimpboat. It was all they had. The unspeakable horror!

Airlines to Fly Up to 25,000 Refugees Out of New Orleans

By MICHELINE MAYNARD
The nation's airlines have been mobilized to fly up to 25,000 refugees out of New Orleans beginning today, under an emergency plan put into effect for the first time by the Department of Homeland Security.

Under the department's national response plan, 15 airlines, including 10 major commercial carriers, will transport up to 25,000 refugees from Louis Armstrong Airport outside New Orleans to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, airlines taking part in the plan said this morning.

The airlines are volunteering their aircraft and crew for the program, which is scheduled to begin at noon and run until this evening. The airlifts also will take place tomorrow and Sunday, the airlines said.

The Transportation Security Administration will secure the airport, according to a memo sent to the airlines. But airlines are being told to "bring everyone and everything you need," the memo said. They were told the status of jet fuel at the airport is "unclear" while power is intermittent.

The airlines have been asked to provide narrow-bodied planes, like Boeing 737 and Airbus A-320 models. The T.S.A. will screen passengers, as it normally does at airports, and it will create passenger lists for the airlines.

The airlines are donating their services without charge, participants said. It is the first time that the Department of Homeland Security has activated the plan, which is being supervised by Michael Jackson, a former Transportation Department official who is the assistant secretary for homeland security. Airlines have been told the airport can handle seven to nine flights per hour, and that the airport will operate under visiual flight rules. That means that flights must take place in relatively good weather, so that pilots can see the airport from a distance as they approach.

Rest of the article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/national/nationalspecial/02cnd-air.html

Of course, they still have to get people from the convention center/superdome/their houses to the airport....

upon reading this, my first thought was, oh great, the anti-terra fuckheads are at it again.

Then i realized that "passenger lists" is the important bit. Passenger Lists can get posted on websites, send to newspapers, etc.

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell — it's every man for himself.'"

Like you I am disgusted by what is taking place and what has not taken place in New Orleans. We'll see how the apparent genocide of the poor of New Orleans plays out today.

To the point, as many of you know, Quintron and Miss Pussycat lived in New Orleans' 9th Ward. CNN characterized the homes in the neighborhood as "humble" - these are a lot of the people that we're all seeing on TV. The folks who for economic or health reasons did not evacuate. Fortunately, Quintron and Miss Pussycat did make it out of New Orleans before the hurricane hit. Their van was loaded up with their instruments and puppets - but their house, the Spellcaster Lodge and ALL of their belongings are casualties of Hurricane Katrina. Pretty much all Q and P have is what they need to tour... This is a DEVASTATING turn of events for our friends.

They need your help. Those with paypal accounts can send donations to Quintron and Miss Pussycat's Rhinestone Records account. Their paypal id is: [email protected]

I realize that many of you out there don't have lots of money to spare - that's the general makeup of our music scene - but if everyone getting this email sits there and thinks they are unique and "others" will contribute, nothing is going to happen. It is YOU I'm reaching out to. This is terribly important. If you don't have a paypal account, I'll gladly accept donations here at Skin Graft, make them payable to the label, make it clear that it's for Q and P and I'll see that they get it.

Also, I'd be doing RUINS a tremendous disservice if I didn't mention that their "Pallaschtom" CD has arrived and I'm sending orders out as soon as I get them. It is an incredible album. Everything in the Skin Graft catalog is on sale at the moment (and will be through September 12th), so now is a good time to pick up any of those Quintron and Flossie And The Unicorns titles you've been meaning to get.

Please spread the word. Thanks everyone,

Mark
http://www.skingraftrecords.com

On the one hand, Interdictor's kinda crazy. On the other hand, he reports stuff like this, from half an hour ago:

10:01 am The City is ON FIRE
Teams Alpha and Bravo finished the medium range recon and there are 3 separate locations on fire. We have pictures coming shortly.

During the recon, I spoke to some Federal Marshalls and NOPD. Morale is LOW. Very low. They're not seeing the military presence they say they were promised. I told those guys they can't possibly imagine how much we (the world) appreciate their dedication. I asked what civil rights the citizens have and the US Marshalls looked at me like I just fell off the turnip truck and chuckled. I asked if citizens can have guns for protection and he said if someone thinks he needs a gun, he should have already evacuated. He also said they are setting the city on fire.

The NOPD wants to know where "the two active duty brigades" were that he says they were told were supposed to arrive today. When I asked him what he would want to tell the world, he said Everyone keeps talking about the military presence in the city, and then asked me," Do you see any military around here" in dusgust.

We reconned our roof also, to get a better view of the city and took... I hesitate to call them "amazing" pictures. My city... it has been punched in the face and is on the canvas being counted out.

And yes, that's smoke you see out of the windows. The city is under a haze from the fires. Smoke and ash are floating miles away from the fires.

9:53 A.M. - LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hilary Duff has pledged to donate $250,000 to help Hurricane Katrina victims on the Gulf Coast. The 17-year-old singer-actress will give $200,000 to the American Red Cross and $50,000 to USA Harvest, which is supplying food to shelters, according to a statement released Thursday by publicist Cece Yorke. The latter donation will amount to more than 300,000 cans of food being provided to victims.

Duff encouraged fans to bring canned food donations to her concerts and to give money to charities.

Jordan, that pictures is fires burning in NO.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Fuck you hater, Hilary Duff recorded a song by song cover of "Loveless"!

Lo, I am shamed.

10:37 A.M. - Bush: First we're going to save lives and stabilize the situation.

10:33 A.M. - (AP) A large fire erupted today in an old retail building in a dry section of Canal Street. There's no immediate reports of injuries.Earlier today, an explosion at a chemical depot rocked an area of New Orleans east of the French Quarter.