New Orleans

just found out that my family is fine: aunt, cousin, cousin's ex-wife, cousin's teen-age child, and 5 dogs are all holed up in a motel outside of houston. my other yuppy cousin tried to ride out the storm in style at the New Orleans Ritz Carlton hotel but they lost electrical power, ran out of food, and were evacuated this morning to who knows where...but at least I know he's OK.

instead of going down to help them we're just going to stay where we are and try to get them all to come up north and stay with one of us. it'll be a long time before they can go home again.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372455,00.html

This is very disconcerting.

queen_of_pies wrote: just found out that my family is fine: aunt, cousin, cousin's ex-wife, cousin's teen-age child, and 5 dogs are all holed up in a motel outside of houston. my other yuppy cousin tried to ride out the storm in style at the New Orleans Ritz Carlton hotel but they lost electrical power, ran out of food, and were evacuated this morning to who knows where...but at least I know he's OK.

instead of going down to help them we're just going to stay where we are and try to get them all to come up north and stay with one of us. it'll be a long time before they can go home again.

Wonderful! I just found out my grandparents went to a town in Mississippi that wasn't far enough away and were without water, food, or power for three days, but now are safe and sound at a Best Western in Jacksonville. Only one person left to find out about: my uncle, who did not evacuate, but who lives uptown where the flooding wasn't too bad. We're mostly worried about the roving gangs of looters up there at this point.

EmilyM wrote: Actually, Salon expanded their story and put it on the "cover" later in the day, and the Spiegel story is identical to that expanded version--both by Sidney Blumenthal.

D'Oh! :oops:
I didn't even realize it was the same author...

It's that liberal media conspiracy again. :twisted:

I just heard from a coworker that looters ransacked a Walmart and have taken all the guns there and are going on a rampage and some cops have been shot.

Granted, I heard this. He said it was on the news this morning. I've been looking for an article online, but have yet found anything about it except that a military helicopter's been shot at.

Subject: How's that Hummer working out for you?

daveb wrote: I just heard from a coworker that looters ransacked a Walmart and have taken all the guns there and are going on a rampage and some cops have been shot.

Granted, I heard this. He said it was on the news this morning. I've been looking for an article online, but have yet found anything about it except that a military helicopter's been shot at.

The Wal-Mart gun theft was widely reported yesterday. The "going on a rampage" part is conjecture, albeit a reasonable one. Today it's a little worse, as the Guard is having to deal with people with guns; there were shots fired at a military helicopter assisting in evac from the Superdome, for instance, according to the front page of the Washington Post. It's important not to paint a picture that categorizes everything based on one report, but it is sad that manpower is having to be diverted to deal with security issues.

Separately, gas prices are jumping sporadically:

Gas prices jumped at stations around the country Thursday as gasoline futures surged and crude prices rose in the continuing aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which flooded refineries, shut down pipelines and slashed U.S. fuel production by more than 10 percent.

Pump prices rose to just under $6 a gallon at some retail outlets in the south. CNN showed footage of a gas station in Georgia advertising regular gas for $5.87 a gallon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/01/AR2005090100705.html (free registration required)


Gotta love this in the wake of the SUV boom of the past few years. Look for a mainstreaming of fuel-efficient vehicles next year.

Not to de-emphasize the need to address human suffering during this disaster, but several organizations are trying to provide rescue/relief for animals in the affected areas as well. You may want to contribute to:

Noah's Wish
ASPCA

JamesonVandy wrote: [quote=marthajoy][quote=metulj]Folks, $100 a head from each and every New Yorker (I know a lot of people can't afford that y'know what I mean) would be approaching $900 million. Choose a charity you trust and give what you can.

I want to give money, especially cause my company will match... I get so nervous that the money I give wont go to the right place... any recommendations on charities?

Read this thread (scroll up on page one of this thread) for several comments on how to do this. Red Cross is the best place to give, but read about how to do it in a secure manner.

Thanks... very glad to learn about Mercycorp... I have heard conflicting things about the Red Cross, which will require more research on my part to figure out what the real story is. A few bucks for animals too. So overwhelmed!

Just discovered this, but Craigslist has sites focused on New Orleans and such:
http://neworleans.craigslist.org/

Note that other Katrina affected cities are highlighted in red with arrows on the right-hand side of the page for more specific local coverage.

Including special Katrina focused sections.
http://neworleans.craigslist.org/about/help/katrina_cl.html

The lost and found hit me like a brick wall. It's the cyber-equivalent of the walls of posters many of us saw all over the city after 9-11.

http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/new_orleans_msi_aug31_2005_dg.jpg

Satellite photo from yesterday. Unbelievable. I was able to pick out where we got married in April (not flooded) where we stayed (flooded) and where my dad is buried (not flooded)...kind of a personal relief, but the picture itself...oh my god. (note you can zoom in.)

More info on places to donate. And I personally think that if you want to donate to a place that is truly connected to the New Orleans community and needs help, ACORN is it. I can't imagine any other group directly affected to such a degree and who needs as much help as they can now to help those who even needed help before Katrina hit.

Here is a breakdown of who they are and what they do.

"Hurricane Recovery Fund
How will donations to the ACORN Hurricane Recovery Fund be used?
ACORN is not a relief organization -- we are a national community organization with headquarters in New Orleans and a deep membership in low and moderate income communities there.

We need funds to:

1. Establish a temporary Headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana;
2. Reopen our New Orleans offices as soon as possible;
3. As we reopen and rebuild, we will unite community members to face the challenges at hand:

* Servicing the housing and credit needs of our communities;
* Organizing to see that low income neighborhoods and families get the help the need.

Already, in this chaotic situation, ACORN members are uniting to support each other.

* Houston ACORN members are preparing to meet arriving evacuees at the Superdome to offer support, and house fellow ACORN members in their homes.
* With cell phones down, we are using our website (www.acorn.org) to let connect staff, members and others get in touch and offer help.
Your donation will help us get our local and national offices up and running, so we can serve our communities in this time of dire need.

Thank you for your support."

daveb wrote: YEEEEAH HAHAHA!!!

Somebody in Mississippi told visiting VP CHeney to go fuck himself on live TV!!! CNN!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/08.html#a4856

It looked like the Secret Service guy wanted to jump the guy who made the comment, then thought better of it. Guess you can't rope off protesters too easily in the wake of a hurricane. Awesome.

Check this out too: http://www.livejournal.com/users/sohwhat/70882.html

ACORN is a great idea for donations.

If anyone wants to give clothes and other supplies, the
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) is coordinating a drive citywide. Their Brooklyn location is
388 Atlantic Ave 3rd Floor b/w Hoyt and Bond
Tel 718 254-8800
Drop off hours M-F 10a-7p, Sat/Sun 12p-4p

They are accepting non-perishable food, NEW socks and underwear, and clothing in GOOD condition, as well as sealed medical supplies (pain relievers, insect repellent, etc), diapers, feminine supplies, towels/sheets/sleeping bags/garbage bags/air mattresses ETC.

Please be sensible in what you donate . . . I just had a really good time packaging up all the work clothes I hate . . . summery and so perfect for the South

Has everyone heard of George W.'s declaration of a national prayer day on September 16th for Katrina victims? Well mark your calendars, becuase it's real!

Now, I'm not religious. And I respect others faiths and beliefs. But this is astounding. Especially when you go to the Presidential Prayer Team page (no joke) and under the heading "What you can do:" the following options are given:

--BEGIN--
Pray
* Updated Prayer Points for Hurricane Katrina
* Stories of God's People Responding

Give
* Prayer Mobilization
--END--

So let me get this straight? Pray first. Roll-up your sleeves and do something later. Doesn't this then explain a lot of the non-response we've seen from the federal agencies in charge of this mess?

I pray that somehow George W. Bush has a an intern give him a blowjob so that he can get kicked out of office on a rail like Clinton.