Katrina's aftermath

HOUSTON—Evacuees from the overheated, filth-encrusted wreckage of the New Orleans Superdome were bussed to the humid, 110-degree August heat and polluted air of Houston last week, in a move that many are resisting. "Please, God, not Houston. Anyplace but Houston," said one woman, taking shelter under an overpass. "The food there is awful, and the weather is miserable. And the traffic—it's like some engineer was making a sick joke." Authorities apologized for transporting survivors to a city "barely better in any respect," but said the blistering-hot, oil-soaked Texas city was in fact slightly better, and that casualties due to gunfire would be no worse.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html

there we go

3 Duke students drove down from North Carolina to help, wound up sneaking into the city(in their Hynundai, FFS), and got 7 people out in two trips. They swiped an AP reporter press ID, made copies at a Kinkos, and made it past the guards with a car loaded with water.

The order to halt civilian relief efforts angered some helicopter crews. Lieutenant Udkow, who associates say was especially vocal about voicing his disagreement to superiors, was taken out of the squadron's flying rotation temporarily and assigned to oversee a temporary kennel established at Pensacola to hold pets...

"At one point, there were a load of girls on the roof of the lobby saying 'Can you help us?' and the policemen said 'Show us what you have got' and made signs for them to lift their T-shirts. When they said no, they said 'Fine' and motored off down the road in their motorboat."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1563466,00.html

Houston SPCA -- they're holding onto the evacuees' pets

Noah's Wish
-Noah's Wish is a not-for-profit, animal welfare organization, with a straightforward mission. We exist to keep animals alive during disasters. That's it.

Louisiana SPCA

Petfinder.com

BestFriends.com

That's one of the few things that I've read in the past 3 days that actually made me feel better rather than worse, thanks.

Great.

check that shit out.

also, Mexico to the rescue!

from that:

The first green tractor-trailers, with Mexican flags attached to the tops of their cabs, crossed the international bridge at Laredo at about 8:15 a.m. The rest of the 45-vehicle convoy was in a staging area on the U.S. side in about 15 minutes.

And i can't help but think of the Mexicools

lyra, i've been outta the news loop.. link to the article on prayer day?

And for every National Day of Prayer that the president proclaims, there's also a National Plastic Bag Suffocation Awareness Week. Big Whoop.

Bush Pledges to Expedite Aid to Gulf Region; Day of Prayer Is Set

"The government is going to be with you for the long haul," Mr. Bush said in a brief speech at the White House as he and Vice President Dick Cheney tried to counter charges that their administration had reacted slowly and ineffectively to the crisis. The president said that Sept. 16, next Friday, would be designated a national day of prayer and remembrance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-bush.html

also http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4227974.stm

and more:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=katrina+day+of+prayer&btnG=Search+News

I also love the new Republican song: "Let's Not Point Fingers (It's The Mayor's Fault)"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9255741/

Though it's a bit... unexpected to have this small story at the top of the MSN news bar.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/091904ccktWWLIvanFlaws.132602486.html

I'm going to Houston on business next week, and I think I got the *last* hotel room in the city. Everything is full up, which I think is a good sign.

In the parking lot outside the hangar sits George Lainart, a police officer from Georgia, who has led a flotilla of nine airboats over land to try to pitch in with the rescue. But his crew has been on the bench for two days, waiting for FEMA to assign them a mission. After making serial inquiries, Lainart is climbing out of his skin, and I later find out that his team circumvented FEMA altogether, got down to New Orleans, and stayed busy for five days straight. Though he shredded his hull by running over asphalt, cars, fire hydrants, and other debris, his crew saved nearly 800 people.

"FEMA was holding up everything, they didn't have a clue," complains Lainart. "They were an absolute roadblock, nobody was getting anywhere with those idiots. Everybody just started doing their own missions." While opinions on the ground differ wildly as to who deserves the most generous serving of blame pie among George W. Bush, Louisiana's governor, and New Orleans' mayor, everyone I speak with agrees that FEMA officials should spend their afterlives in the hottest part of Hell without any water breaks.

The longer Brown stays...

"Mike Chertoff made those decisions and I certainly support him," Cheney told reporters at the Austin convention center, which is housing about 1,500 evacuees. Some have called for Brown to be fired, but Cheney deferred to Chertoff.

also:

Cheney said the evacuees he spoke to in Texas on Saturday did not raise concerns about the FEMA shake-up but detailed their stories of escaping the devastation.

"Not one of them mentioned any of it," Cheney said in response to a question. "They're all very thankful where they find themselves right now."

Pat Robertson on Sunday said...“By choosing an avowed lesbian for this
national event, these Hollywood elites have clearly invited God’s
wrath,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club” on Sunday. “Is it any surprise
that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”

Robertson also noted that the last time Degeneres hosted the Emmys, in
2001, the September 11 terrorism attacks took place shortly before the
ceremony.

Where is Saladin's army when you need them?

http://datelinehollywood.com/archives/2005/09/05/robertson-blames-hurricane-on-choice-of-ellen-deneres-to-host-emmys/

there are six of us staying in a one bedroom house right now, but we plan to rent a bigger place soon and splitting the rent (possibly more than 6 ways as there are a couple more of our friends considering moving out here). the only problem is that the landlords around here are heartless bastards who will charge 50 dollars per night per person for anyone who spends the night at their properties who aren't signed on to the lease. one even said "we can't have all of new orleans just moving in here. this is a respectable community"

SO... if anyone has any leads on good jobs please drop me an email. i'll be checking my email here at the public library fairly regularly. this is probably a stretch, but if anyone knows a way a brother can get into Foley Arts in this town, let me know. I'm a lot more qualified/interested in starting that line of work than grip/electrician (though please, if you've got any leads there, let me know).

and if i get wheels/employment i'll need to know some cool clubs/bars/shows/whatever to check out so drop me some names plz.

Also, some insider info on Katrina:

My best friend's older brother was working at Charity Hospital until the "national guard" evacuated everyone from that hellhole. I use the quotes because despite what the news claims, he was actually rescued by renegade texas wildlife and fisheries agents who lied their way past FEMA and the national guard in order to help out. until then he had been sleeping on the roof with the rats for 3 hours every night to escape the stuffy cesspool of the hospital interior. The national guard had promised help on tuesday and then on every following day but no help ever came. at one point they told him to have his worse-off patients up on the roof ready to be flown away in helicopters. the helicopters chose instead to rescue comparatively healthy medical staff from the tulane clinic next door. two of his weaker patients died from the stress of being carried up and down the stairs on a stretcher by exhausted hospital workers. He had to treat all of his patients by penlight in oppressive heat, humidity, and stink. he's safe in cincinatti now with some of his family, but he's still fatigued, malnourished, and shell-shocked.

a friend of my dad's stayed uptown during the storm and wasn't rescued until a week after the storm hit. a tree fell on his house and it flooded on monday. during the looting crisis he had to fight for his life on multiple occasions (in hand to hand combat) and during the chaos was separated from his dog Rosco. he was rescued by the coast guard only to find out that his sister and brother, his only family members, had both lost their homes to the hurricane. he might be moving out here with us for a while. we got a message from him this morning that a firefighter from gonzales LA rescued his dog and he's on his way there now for a seriously emotional reunion.

one even said "we can't have all of new orleans just moving in here. this is a respectable community"

maybe this is worth publicizing?