Every time that I think things can't get any more stupidly bizarre, they come up with something else.

Firefighters being used to hand out FEMA's phone number to people? Their first assignment in a disaster area where they might be needed to, oh, you know, rescue people is to be used in a photo-op for the President??

What the heck is going on here?

News reports showed a crowd of refugees, including children, stranded without adequate food, water or medical attention at New Orleans' downtown convention center, even though it had been designated a shelter after the Superdome filled up. When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was asked on National Public Radio why no help had been sent, he said he was unaware of the problem.


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Hundreds of Katrina evacuees who fled to Tallahassee seeking refuge from the storm have been politely told by their hotels and motels to leave this weekend to make room for a football game: FSU vs. Miami.


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And, in personal experience--

At work today, I got to overhear an absolutely wonderful, shining example of humanity say,

"I don't feel sorry for any of those people. They were told to leave and they didn't."

*Why* does workplace etiquette say I can't verbally tear people to tinytiny shreds just because I'm on the clock?

I'm so glad for the rescue workers going in there to help and the doctors and nurses who are trying to keep their patients safe in the midst of all this and the people donating money and items and taking refugees in . . . but the people above just make me sick.

New Orleans in anarchy with fights, rapes

Jesus.

Mom called today, and I talked to her a bit about what's been going on and she said that a lady at the college is helping to organize a bottled water drive-- apparently they have a delivery truck and will actually be taking it down there to help. So there's something else that can be done, anyway.

scott_lynch has an excellent post up about the whole 'well, why were these people living in hurricane country anyway/if *I* was there, I would've. . .' tendency.

Read it here.

Well, after waking up this morning to news about what's happening in New Orleans, and flipping channels only to see the news-anchor nitwits "tsk tsk"ing over the looting going on, I was going to make a post about it--

But she says it all so much better.

I don't have any kind of rescue/medical training, so I'm not going to try and head down there and interfere with people who *do* know what they're doing, but I will be donating to the Red Cross.

This is completely surreal. :-(