MORE ON DOWNTOWN MICHAEL BROWN

MORE ON DOWNTOWN MICHAEL BROWN

In all I had seen about Hurricane Katrina, I had not seen this video by Aaron Brown for CNN. I ran across it today, as I was following links about today's levee break, which is flooding the Ninth Ward of New Orleans all over again.

I'm just at a loss over the scope of the disaster this hurricane season. As Rita aims again toward Louisiana (though Texas will bear its brunt, the water is bound to cause problems in Louisiana, and I heard tornado warnings this morning), it becomes clear that the era of being your college roommate's buddy s not enough of a recommendation for getting a job.

Sadly, many won't see it that way.

ANYONE REMEMBER 'ANIMAL HOUSE'?

ANYONE REMEMBER 'ANIMAL HOUSE'?

In the 1978 classic film Animal House, as Flounder's brother's car is being pimped out by his fellow Delta delinquents, Flounder fears his brother's reaction to the wholesale carnage being visited upon the vehicle. Otter, as only a frat brother can, reassures Flounder thusly:

"You fucked up. You trusted us."

I was reminded of this great moment in how friends can be uncaring as I read the story from the Baton Rouge Advocate about the Louisiana school buses never used to ferry people out of the destruction following Katrina. I have heard complaints -- including from my cousin, who lives in nearby Metairie -- that the locals proved their incompetence by not having those buses out and ready.

Now, it turns out, FEMA directed them not to use those buses.

This changes the tone of the debate for me. Up until this moment, I was happy to assume that the local governments were incompetent. I have been to Louisiana, and not everybody I've met seems like he'd be likely to get a middle management job at a New York advertising agency.

And perhaps they were. Governor Kathleen Blanco, assured by FEMA that 500 buses were on the way -- air-conditioned buses, unlike the ones already on the ground in the New Orleans area -- believed that they were, and chose to trust the federal government. She has forgotten, of course, that the foxes control the hen house -- the little government people are running the federal government, and they don't believe much in what it is they're heading. (Perhaps this explains why Joe Horse Boy was in charge of disaster response.)

So, Blanco, a Democrat, and theoretically a believer that one good thing government can do is pool resources and solve problems, trusted the government. The result was disaster and death.

It's kind of like when you were a kid and your parents asked you to do something that you didn't want to do. If they asked you to clean the bathroom, but you instead dropped bleach all over the good towels, suddenly you were no longer asked to clean the bathroom. So perhaps the plan was to avoid having to respond to all those annoying emergencies and help all those people who probably hadn't donated to the proper election committees.

Somehow, I don't think that Gov. Blanco -- or any Democrat (or, for that matter, any Republican) -- will make this same mistake twice.

PORNOGRAPHY FOR KATRINA RELIEF!

PORNOGRAPHY FOR KATRINA RELIEF!

ATTENTION: Link below is for ADULTS ONLY!

So, while looking for something else, and following some links, I stumbled across this. Just goes to show that some people will go to any lengths to do some good in the world.

*rimshot*

But... he raised $378.

MORE ON NEW ORLEANS AND KATRINA

MORE ON NEW ORLEANS AND KATRINA

The New York Times, which I'm sure is read every day in the Crescent City, published this wrap-up of the task ahead. (Registration required; aw, go ahead.)

Salon published this story about a Playboy Club bunny's time in New Orleans in the 1970s. You'll have to watch an ad. Deal with it. Forward courtesy of Harry Broertjes.

The story of the Mississippi physician who was handcuffed by the military simply for expressing an opinion to Vice-President Dick Cheney, using words Cheney himself has uttered.

PEOPLE NOT LIKE YOU

PEOPLE NOT LIKE YOU

I've been out scanning and linking and have decided that it's interesting to read blogs from a specific ethnic point of view and try very hard not to have knee-jerk reactions to them.

Try it yourself. Here are some to consider:

Angry Asian Man

Negrophile.com

Turbanhead.com

SepiaMutiny.com

Just to be different...

MORE BLOGS, MORE NEWS

MORE BLOGS, MORE NEWS

In tracking down information on the Internet, I followed the link at Cyphering to the Keith Olbermann timeline of what (and more important, when) the Federal government knew about the likelihood of levee damage. It's here.

From there, I found Crooks and Liars, which offered this link to Boing Boing with some interesting questions about the rosier news today, part of which says that things aren't quite as sunny at the Astrodome as this morning's Today show indicated, and part of which quotes New Orleans suburban residents as saying that the 17th Street Canal was purposely destroyed by someone -- blame is put on Lousiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco or the Army Corps of Engineers -- in order to save the more expensive real estate in New Orleans. I'd take it with tons of salt, considering the common belief outside the west that Jews knew that the World Trade Towers were going to be attacked.

All I know is that it's an insane mess. Still haven't heard from my cousin Jack and godson-in-law Jon, who were going to drive from Destin, FL to Metairie, LA to see what was left of their homes...

KATRINA, CONTINUED

KATRINA, CONTINUED



No word on doctors offered to Katrina victims by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Barbara Bush sees silver lining in Katrina relocation: "So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

Some residents in no hurry to leave, even now.


Click here for the New Orleans Times-Picayune Breaking News Blog.

Satellite photos from NOAA.

THINGS THAT PISSED ME OFF TODAY

THINGS THAT PISSED ME OFF TODAY

My cats made a mess of the litter box. I had to take a hedge clipper to the wisteria and arbor vitae that have grown practically wild in my yard. I had to take a plunger to the toilet. The car door didn't latch the first time. Quality Paperback Book Club hasn't acknowledged my payment. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer left another stupid typo in an article.

And then I read more about what's happening in the Gulf states, and you realize that everybody there would be happy to have to deal with the crap that pissed me off today.

Worse, I keep thinking about people with whom I'm acquainted and hoping they're okay. Even if they're people to whom I haven't spoken in years.

Over at The Blue Chair, Jim Chadwick points out that, despite our amazing civilization, we live on a knife's-edge between extreme modernity and Third World status. How right Jim is. What would you do if your house disappeared in a flood? If there was no electricity for the ATM? If there was no gas for the car? If there were no roads to truck food into your city, no fresh water to drink, and sewage and corpses drifting in your street?

Oh, and, by the way, to those of you in the world who are enjoying this, let us point out that when Banda Aceh nearly disappeared from the face of the planet, nobody here was happy to see those people perishing or struggling. If your world view, your politics, or your religion lets you be happy with the pain and suffering and destruction of others... well, it's the one time I hope that there really is an afterlife anything like the one I was taught about when I was a kid.

I'm going to write a check to the Salvation Army today. I trust you'll write one to someone today, too.

LINKS:

Situation grows more desperate.

"It's like we're in Afghanistan," said Lisa Washington of Algiers, who came to the Dome with a large group from the Lafitte housing development. "People are getting raped. People are getting killed. People are getting diseases. We're fighting for our lives right now." From the New Orleans Times-Picayune weblog, published by reporters who can't get to the newspaper's building.

Missing persons board.

KATRINA -- HOW TO HELP

KATRINA -- HOW TO HELP

I know it's lame posting a link, but at least it'll help you figure out how to help.

In the latest news, my cousin's in Tennessee, my goddaughter and her husband are in Arkansas, and my cousin's son is in Texas.

DON'T BREAK IT!

DON'T BREAK IT!

I've gotten this one a couple of times before, but I thought the timing was ironic; this one arrived in my in box, via Joe Confreda, on Monday, August 29th.



Subject: It will be four years on Sep. 11

almost 4 years and still going ?

Please don't break.....

This is why I always say I love YOU....

This has not been broken since 9/11/01, please keep it going...
This has been kept alive and moving since 9/11. In memory of all those who perished this morning; the passengers and the pilots on the United Air and AA flights, the workers in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and all the innocent bystanders. Our prayers go out to the friends and families of the deceased.

IF I KNEW

If I knew it would be the last time
That I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
Well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let just this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance
to make everything just rig ht.

There will always be another day
to say "I love you,"
And certainly there's another chance
to say our "Anything I can do?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get,
I'd like to say how much I love you
and I hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike,
And today may be the last chance
you get to hold your loved one tight.

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,

That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So hold your loved ones close today,
and whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them
and that you'll always hold them dear

Take time to say "I'm sorry,"
"Please forgive me," "Thank you," or "It's okay."
And if tomorrow never comes,
you'll have no regrets about today.

Send this to at least 10 people to show your support.

PLEASE DON'T BREAK IT!

I'm not forwarding it, but it's perpetually on the Internet now. When you find this via Google, forward the heck out of it. Or not. I suspect you've already done the right thing when it comes to these sorts of things.

KATRINA

Bill Haber, AP
Residents walk through floodwaters Tuesday on Canal Street in New Orleans.
From America Online.

KATRINA

Spent the better part of yesterday and this morning ascertaining the whereabouts of my cousin Jack and his family, who live in Metairie. My Uncle Frank called at 9 this morning from Ballston, NY to ask if I'd heard, but I hadn't. A little later his wife June called to say they'd heard from my cousin, who had evacuated to Chattanooga, TN, where he has business interests and friends. Apparently his wife already wants to go back, but I wouldn't count on that happening soon.

Once more we're faced with our own fragile hold on our home planet. The photos I've seen so far look no different than the tsunami photographs from last year. The toll will be enormous, first in lives, then in lives ruined, as people begin to realize that everything they've saved and treasured has been destroyed. Insurance companies will go bankrupt, and those that don't will probably be unable to pay enough.

Soon we'll hear about how insane it is to live in a region that's situated below sea level, but let's not dwell on that. There are threats from nature to humans everywhere -- tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides. Which is why the entire concept of humans threatening other humans is so stupid.

I will hold out hope if you know of someone who lives in the area, especially if you still have no word about his or her safety. And please. Let's not hear any sniggering about whose deity may have done what to which area of what country. It's weather, for crying out loud.

I haven't wrapped my mind around the looters, yet. The only photos I've seen so far show people taking groceries, which has that Jean Valjean sound to it. The guys stealing whiskey and DVDs, however...

America Online coverage.

America Online looting coverage.

SURE, I CAN WHORE

SURE, I CAN WHORE

Major marketers are now looking to blogs to be used as any other marketing tool. The logic is that bloggers are read by people who value the person whose opinions are being published. Word-of-mouth is always stronger than advertising, just as a PR placement is stronger than advertising.

But, that said, to you, my devoted readers, here is my promise: If I hear from Ripple Effects, CooperKatz, MMW Group, Ketchum PR, or New Media Strategies about what I can do to promote their clients, and there's money involved, I am so helping out.

After all, if it works for the president, it should work for me, right?

That said, perhaps you should now take everything I post with a grain of salt. Which you should have been, anyway.

This post has not been sponsored, but I feel compelled to tell you that my deodorant is Old Spice.