Critics of Spike Lee's Katrina Documentary

Other webloggers with stronger stomachs watch all two hours of the first part of Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke.

Brendon Loy, who is in the documentary, comments on how Katrina could have been worse, Mayor Ray Nagin being let off the hook, and Spike Lee's racism.

Steven Spruiell calls it "Lee's angry, vindictive vignettes."

New Orleans Bus on eBay

The New Orleans school district is selling one of their Katrina-damaged buses on eBay. Mayor Ray Nagan must be cringing. On the auction page is the infamous photo of a lot full of flooded buses; buses that could have been used to help evacuate the city.

Then we have Alvarez & Marsal, "the management firm hired last year to turn around the school system," getting all cute in irreverant by declaring the broken bus an "Exclusive Limited Offer!!!" The winning bidder will "Own A Piece of History!!!" It's a "This is a collector's dream come true."

"No Flood of Cash Offers Yet for Waterlogged School Bus"

[via Lakeshore Laments]

New Year's Party in the Big Easy

They're partying in New Orleans. The place is a party town so a celebration is fitting after the horror its citizens have gone through. A moment of celebration lifts the soul from the torment surrounding it. One resident said, "New Orleans is back open, so come on down and start visiting. That's the word to get out." Unfortunately visitors may be the only ones returning for quite some time. The Big Easy was dying before Hurricane Katrina hit. The city's further dependence on tourism won't bring its people back.

"Rollicking Sendoff for 2005 in New Orleans"

New Orleans' Elections Postponed

If President Bush did this the Bush haters would be going crazy.

"Blanco Postpones New Orleans Elections"

Katrina Mayhem Myths

It's been three weeks since the levees broke, and New Orleans was turned into a lake. One of the more dramatic stories was of the literal raping, killing, and pillaging that happened at the Superdome and convention center. It's interesting that no witnessness or alleged victims have come forward to personify the horrors that supposedly happened in those places. That's because much of the violence was false. The idea that the Superdome during the Hurricane Katrina flooding turned into a little Baghdad is a myth propagated by a MSM intent on advancing conventional wisdom instead of seeking truth.

After five days managing near riots, medical horrors and unspeakable living conditions inside the Superdome, Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron prepared to hand over the dead to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Following days of internationally reported murders, rapes and gang violence inside the stadium, the doctor from FEMA — Beron doesn't remember his name — came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalled the doctor saying.

The real total?

Six, Beron said.

Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the handoff of bodies from a Dome freezer, where they lay atop melting bags of ice.

State health department officials in charge of body recovery put the official death count at the Dome at 10, but Beron said the other four bodies were found in the street near the Dome, not inside it. Both sources said no one had been murdered inside the stadium.

When will we hear CNN's Anderson Cooper decry the performance of himself and the MSM? Will he use the same passion and anger that he saved for his criticism of FEMA and the Bush administration?

Two MSM explanations for the bad coverage: broken telephones and racism:

Times-Picayune Editor Jim Amoss cited telephone breakdowns as a primary cause of reporting errors, but said the fact that most evacuees were poor African Americans also played a part.

"If the dome and Convention Center had harbored large numbers of middle class white people," Amoss said, "it would not have been a fertile ground for this kind of rumor-mongering."

The truth changes how to proceed with New Orleans' rebuilding. Conventional wisdom was that it might not be wise to pour a few hundred billion in federal funds into fixing the Big Easy if all that was going to be repaired were the areas of black underclass that turned into barbarians at the first leak from Lake Pontchartrain. Noemie Emery wrote on 09.06.05:

The reason New Orleans slid so quickly from civilization into Third World conditions was that it was pretty much a Third World city already, and didn't have too far to go. In its violence, in its corruption, in its reliance on ambience and tourism as its critical industry, in its one-party rule, in its model of graftocracy built on a depressed and crime-ridden underclass that was largely kept out of the sight and the mind of vacationing revelers, it was much more like a Caribbean resort than a normal American city. Its crime and murder rates were way above national averages, its corruption level astounding. The latter was written off as being picturesque and perversely adorable, until it suddenly wasn't, as it paid off in hundreds of buses--that could have borne thousands of stranded people to safety--sitting submerged in water, and police either looting or AWOL.

Conservative criticisms of New Orleans blacks being the result of Great Society welfare programs also need to be rethought.

A better reason to not dole out billions to New Orleans and Louisiana is because the state and local governments don't have a good history of wisely spending previous funds.

The moral of the story: a lot of people didn't heed John Cole's advice.

"Reports of Anarchy at Superdome Overstated"

"Katrina Takes a Toll on Truth, News Accuracy"

[via Charlie Sykes]

Stop Giving Clothes

Tee Bee wants people to donate to a Hurricane Katrina clothing drive. Unfortunately clothes are one catagory of relief charities have plenty of:

So many truckloads of clothes have poured into Baton Rouge since Hurricane Katrina that volunteers from the St. Vincent de Paul Society gave away 100,000 pieces of clothing in 10 days, says Mike Acaldo, director of the Baton Rouge chapter. The group's 20,000-square-foot warehouse is still "packed," he says.

In Gulfport, Miss., the county emergency management director has begged kind-hearted donors to stop. Without enough volunteers to distribute them, clothes ended up piled by the roadside and strewn across parking lots.

...

Relief agencies dread the influx of clothes that inevitably follows a disaster. It takes time and volunteers to sort the items and dispose of things that are unwearable. The Red Cross doesn't accept donated clothes; it wants cash so those in need can buy new.

"It's empowerment, it's their own recovery, and it's a boost to the local economy," spokeswoman Sarah O'Brien says.

In New Iberia, La., agencies are looking for a second warehouse to hold unneeded clothes. "The people who are giving used clothes are wanting to help," says Joe Watts of Adventist Community Services. "We appreciate it, but ... it can be the second disaster."

Tee Bee's heart is in the right place, but cold, hard cash is what's needed. The Red Cross is asking for more donations. The $853 million already donated is only half of what they need, and more funds will be required for Hurricane Rita relief. It's time for you to make another donation. Every little bit helps.

"Cities Bursting at Seams with Excess Used Clothes"

Aristotle and Mistakes

When thinking about responsiblity in the Katrina rescue efforts consider the words of the dead, white man Aristotle:

Thus there are three kinds of injury in transactions between man and man; those done in ignorance are mistakes when the person acted on, the act, the instrument, or the end that will be attained is other than the agent supposed; the agent thought either that he was not hitting any one or that he was not hitting with this missile or not hitting this person or to this end, but a result followed other than that which he thought likely (e.g. he threw not with intent to wound but only to prick), or the person hit or the missile was other than he supposed. Now when (I) the injury takes place contrary to reasonable expectation, it is a misadventure.

--Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics Oxford University Press. 126-7

Hannity and Gingrich Can't Count

Just because something went wrong in New Orleans and a lot of useable buses became waterlogged doesn't mean critics of Mayor Ray Nagin can be so very incorrect about the number of buses available. I'm talking to you Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich. Get your facts straight before you shoot off your mouths. I saw the same pictures as you. When the number 2000 came up you're common sense flag should have popped up. But why let accuracy get in the way of an exaggerated jaw-dropper?

"ABC's Stephanopoulos Repeated School Bus Falsehood Spread by Pruden, Hannity, and Gingrich"

The Onion Matching Donation

DJ points out that The Onion is matching Red Cross donations up to $100,000. Donate through them and you in effect double your money.

"God Outdoes Terrorists Yet Again"

Donate Some More

It's been a few days since I last asked, but hurricane relief is still needed. If you haven't donated yet, what are you waiting for? If you have, thank you, but more help is needed. The Red Cross is the charity I'm pushing. Please donate.

Police Prevented People from Escapting New Orleans

Astonishing.

Police from surrounding jurisdictions shut down several access points to one of the only ways out of New Orleans last week, effectively trapping victims of Hurricane Katrina in the flooded and devastated city.

An eyewitness account from two San Francisco paramedics posted on an internet site for Emergency Medical Services specialists says, "Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot."

"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.

"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said.

The bridge in question -- the Crescent City Connection -- is the major artery heading west out of New Orleans across the Mississippi River.

Lawson said that once the storm itself had passed Monday, police from Gretna City, Jefferson Parrish and the Louisiana State Crescent City Connection Police Department closed to foot traffic the three access points to the bridge closest to the West Bank of the river.

He added that the small town, which he called "a bedroom community" for the city of New Orleans, would have been overwhelmed by the influx.

"There was no food, water or shelter" in Gretna City, Lawson said. "We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people.

"If we had opened the bridge, our city would have looked like New Orleans does now: looted, burned and pillaged."

Being middle class and living in a "bedroom community" means you too can turn into an unfeeling brute during crises. The veneer of civilization is very thin.

"Cops Trapped Survivors in New Orleans" [via Instapundit]

Mr. Brown Goes Back to Washington

FEMA chief Michael Brown was removed from running disaster relief operations in Baton Rouge:

Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target of harsh criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, was relieved of his onsite relief command Friday.

He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was overseeing New Orleans relief, recovery and rescue efforts, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced.

Earlier, Brown confirmed the switch. Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for a federal relief effort that has drawn widespread and sharp criticism, Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: "By the press, yes. By the president, no."

No surprise. Look when it happened: on Friday afternoon. That's news-burying time. (Fewer people read Saturday newspapers.) The Sunday talking heads won't hammer Brown much. It's now old news. That dead horse won't be beaten anymore.

"FEMA Chief Relieved of Katrina Command"

Official Confirms Red Cross Denied Access to New Orleans

Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the state’s Office Of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness confirms the Red Cross wasn't wanted inside New Orleans on 09.01 and 09.02:

“He asked us not to go in and we abided by that request,” said Howell, who added that the Red Cross was supplying food and water throughout the metropolitan area, just not in the city itself.

Mayeaux, who is the deputy director of the state’s Office Of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said that the state began shipping its
own stores of food and water from the Pineville staging area down to New Orleans two days after the storm, on August 31st.

The supplies were sent to the Superdome and Zephyr Field and then spread throughout the city, said Mayeaux. Although the state did not start moving food
to the Superdome until the Wednesday after the storm, Mayeaux said there was adequate food at the facility, noting that people had been instructed to bring their own supplies. There was also some food that had been put there before the hurricane, he said.

But when officials realized that people would be staying at the storm for a longer period of time, they started to move food down, he said.

"Red Cross Was Told to Wait"

Salvation Army Denied Access

Major Garrett has continued working on the story of how Louisiana state government prevent relief workers and supplies from entering New Orleans:

MG: The Salvation Army basically said look. We...first of all, both agencies also want to let people know that they've served the needs of thousands of people who got out, and who got out just a little bit to high ground, north of New Orleans. But they couldn't get in to meet those needs. They asked to get in. They were prepared with their...the Salvation Army has these ever-familiar portable kitchen canteens, is what they call them. They can actually make food, produce food on spot, and distribute it there. People line up. We've seen that at hurricanes and other natural disasters. They were ready. Not allowed in. At first, it was this idea that we don't want to create a magnet at the evacuation site. Secondarily, it became an issue of well, there's lots of water, and we can't assure your safety, so on and so forth. Here's another key point, Hugh. I was very specific with the American Red Cross, president and CEO Marty Evans, and said wait. Tell me clearly. Were you prepared to go in before the levees broke? Before water became an issue of any kind? She said absolutely. Were you denied access before the levees broke? She said we were denied access from minute one.

HH: And did they attempt to renew their request to get in after the levees broke, Major Garrett?

MG: Yes. I am told that the timeline indicates a frequent reasking of this question.

HH: And a frequent denial by Louisiana state Department of Homeland Security?

MG: Right. Because as we discussed last night, their system was this is the shelter of last resort. It is an evacuation site, not a services site. And today, in Louisiana, the Louisiana National Guard said look. Here we were. We had four hundred Louisiana National Guard soldiers at the Superdome. Let's do the math here, Hugh. Four hundred National Guard soldiers coping with thirty thousand evacuees.

HH: Right. Right.

MG: And they said, look. The Mayor told all these people to bring three days worth of food and water. Well, not very many people did. So the National Guard did bring in, on its own, palettes of food, water and things. But clearly, it wasn't enough. Clearly, they were overwhelmed. The numbers were staggering. In the end, it was up to 60,000 people that the National Guard had to supervise, or at least try to supervise at these two places, and eventually move out with the buses. Where did the buses come from? They came from FEMA. 1,100 of them were produced in 72 hours, even though as we all saw, buses were under water all over the city, never used.

I somewhat understand the thinking of the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security. They wanted people out of New Orleans. When the water rushed into the city officials wanted people out. That way police wouldn't have to worry about looters and could focus on rescuing people. But then efforts had to have been made to get people out of the city. The plan was to use buses. That never happened. Nagin consulted with lawyers when thinking about a mandatory evacuation of the city. Ashley Tate at Bilges speculates that similar thinking might have been why school buses weren't used.

Bush Signs Storm Relief Bill

$51.8 billion will go to hurricane relief bringing the total federal cost to almost $62 billion with much more to come.

"Bush Signs $51.8 Bln Storm Relief Bill"

Red Cross Prevent from Going to Superdome

Readers know I'm not fond of the blame game. I have been posting a few items that seriously question the response to the Katrina disaster. To FEMA wasting highly-skilled firefighters by making them pamphlet-toting field agents add the Lousiana state government preventing the Red Cross from sending supplies to the Superdome and New Orleans convention center:

Major Garrett: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdome, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?

Hugh Hewitt: And the answer is?

Garrett: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.

For those of you suspicious of anything Fox News puts out the Red Cross is backing the story on their website.
According to Garrett's report Louisiana state government didn't want the Superdome and the convention center to be magnets for people who didn't/couldn't leave New Orleans. A magnet might have been the best thing. It would have been a centralized place to evacuate victims without first responders traipsing all over the flooded city. The downside would have been putting more people into an already-lousy space. We need to hear the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security's explanation before we start beating the hell out of them. I just hope in-state political fighting didn't have anything to do with decisions [via The Strata-Sphere]. Also, Louisana did get lots of federal dollars. It just wasn't spent on improving levees. Whether, that would have been an effective use of funds is another question.

"Louisiana State Government Banned Red Cross From Helping Evacuees"

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]

At Least We Tried

Besides our high taxes there's a reason people are leaving Wisconsin for the Sun Belt. It's the same reason many hurricane refugees don't want to come to this state: the weather.

FEMA officials said many evacuees are not interested in leaving Texas or other southern states because they want to stay as close as they can to their homes, and because they're worried about their jobs, property and the safety of their loved ones.

Staying as close to home as possible is true, but the first snow flakes could come in about six weeks. The mild winters of Arkansas, Tennessee, or Georgia vs. that of a place where a stadium is nicknamed the "Frozen Tundra." Wisconsin won't likely be the winner in that battle. After getting wallopped by Katrina victims don't want to be messed with by any more bad weather. No offense taken, but the welcome mat is always out., Some have taken advantage:

By late Wednesday, 206 people - including 104 families - were living at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center at State Fair Park, said Kate Hinze, director of media communications for the Greater Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross is also helping 144 evacuees who came to Wisconsin on their own and have made their own living arrangements.

A Salvation Army camp in Kenosha County was also preparing to take care of as many as 400 evacuees, but none had arrived by Wednesday.

Welcome to our soon-to-be cold and snowy state.

"Warm Offers, but Response is Cool"

Waste of Resources

You have over 1,000 highly trained firemen together in one room. What do you do? If you're FEMA you make them endure a day of lectures (including an all-important sexual harassment talk) to prepare them to be "community-relations officers" who won't be doing much rescuing but will be handing out FEMA flyers. FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak was indignant saying, "I would go back and ask the firefighter to revisit his commitment to FEMA, to firefighting and to the citizens of this country." I would ask Ms. Hudak to revisit her commitment to saving hurricane victim's lives. She doesn't care what life-saving resources she has before her.

"Frustrated: Fire Crews to Hand out Fliers for FEMA" [via Catallarchy]

Explain This

Ricardo Pimentel and the Journal Sentinel editorial board want FEMA chief Michael Brown's head:

The sputtering start deepened the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina, heightening the toll in lives and in misery - for which officials at all levels of government must answer. But this crisis found one agency wanting in particular: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose inept performance should lead to the dismissal of its director, Michael Brown.

Brown will probably get the heave-ho, but the short-sighted editorial board can't (or won't) explain how a Brown-led FEMA managed the California wildfire crises in 2003 and last year's series of hurricanes that hit Florida and the Gulf coast. The board just looks angry and let loose a Bush-bashing temper tantrum without putting in some serious thought.

"Sack Michael Brown"

Pizza Pizza

David at Carrick Bend Thoughts wants us to remember those helping the hurricane refugees coming to our area:

I will, however, ask that if you have a few coins left over that maybe you might want to concider sending a note (or a pizza or a fruit basket or something) to the nurses at St. Joes.

Ever since St. Mikes closed it's ER the staff at St. Joes have been the primary ER for the milwaukee area. Their administrators could not forsee the influx of people from Katrina so those poor nurses that work the ICU and ER are having to treat more and more patients.

Keep in mind that these victims have no physician here so they are being sent to the ER with minor complaints but they are being warmly recieved by a staff that is overworked but I bet you anything that if you asked the patients they would tell you the staff seemed unhurried and caring. The simple fact folks is that the staff is extremely overworked and are busting their asses.

Katrina's ripples reach farther than most realize.

"St Joe's Nurses Need Our Applause and Gratitude"

Good Advice

Owen Robinson's advice would have saved some people in New Orleans and Mississippi.

"Learn from Katrina, Be Prepared" [via Boots & Sabers]

Katrina Myths

John Cole deflates a few myths about the Katrina disaster. Most interestingly is no one has come forward about the rapes that supposedly happened inside the Superdome. I'd like to blast FEMA director Michael Brown but 1) we still don't know what happened in the conversations/arguments between government officials at all levels; 2) the guy led FEMA in aiding the Gulf states during the hurricane onslaught last year and the California wildfires in 2003. I don't recall complaints back then. I don't feel the need to be an instant pundit and launch a full salvo. I'll leave that to the Michelle Malkin's and talk radio yappers (oddly Sean Hannity has been pretty subdued except about New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and his flooded buses) of the media world. There's a lot we don't know. So most of us should cork it with the Monday morning quarterbacking.

"Calm Down And Let’s Get This Right"

Kids of Katrina

Michele's Kids of Katrina project is going well:

Quickly, I just want to say that it looks like Baton Rouge is a go as well as Houston for Kids of Katrina. Supplies are piling up at home and in my workplace, money sitting in PayPal just waiting for me to get to National Wholesale Liquidators and buy out their supplies.

Despite illness she's found a way to not play the blame game and will end up helping a lot of people. Bravo!

"Mmmmmm.......Flo-Naz"

Kids Camp New Refugee Home

The Salvation Army has turned one of their summer camps in Kenosha into a place of refuge for a few hundred hurricane victims who start arriving today.

"Kenosha County Camp, Fair Park Prepare for Evacuees"

Katrina Refugees Coming to Wisconsin

Gov. Jim Doyle has opened up dormatories at State Fair Park for Katrina refugees. Patrick and Wendy has listed some ideas of what we should donate to "our new neighbors" (Wendy's words).

For those of you no where near SE Wisconsin refugees may be headed your way. If not please donate to the Red Cross. Want a list of alternative charities? Here you go. I'm not keeping score like some other webloggers. But it would be really cool to seem them reach the $1 million mark. Please donate.

"State Fair Park Facility to House Hurricane Evacuees"

Bush, Blanco: Get Over Yourselves

Lousinana governor Kathleen Blanco and President Bush are barely on speaking terms. At a news conference Bush kissed Blanco on the cheek. I hope they both realize that no one cares whether they like each other, hate each other's guts, or blames the other for not getting help into disaster areas fast enough. Personality issues won't get the water pumped out of New Orleans any faster. Blaming each other won't help with rebuilding and getting people back into their homes. Neither Blanco or Bush can changed what has passed. That's done. Egos will only get in the way. Hell, I'd be happy if no officials who aren't directly in charge of relief efforts talk to the media for a few days. Disaster recovery isn't about scoring political points or claiming credit. It's about helping people. Let Congress have their "fun" investigating. It's the only thing besides spending money they can do to make themselves appear to be "doing something."

"Bush, Blanco Reveal Strained Relationship"

Katrina Blame Game

The levee's haven't even been patched and pundits and media mavens are all playing the blame game. NBC's Tim Russert in the safe (and dry) confines of Washington, D.C. said on Today, "But there appears to have been a significant lack of real preparation for this crisis. Tim Naftali, writing for Slate, blasts the Department of Homeland Security for immediately getting the military into New Orleans to secure the city. He points out that 3,000 soldiers are nearby. Cindy Sheehan goes along with the German Green kook and blames President Bush's environmental policies. President Bush got into it by saying, "the results are not acceptable." He didn't clarified what he meant.

I'm sure there were plenty of screw-ups, and there will be many more as the disaster unfolds. Realize the severity of the situation: an entire American city is in essence gone. Roads into New Orleans are flooded with only big army trucks able to get through. Naftali thinks the 4th Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division is only three hours away, but that's on passable roads.

Most of the blame will be on governments not be prepared. But what does that mean? Should governments have huge warehouses filled with MREs, bottled water, medicine, cots, and blankets at the ready at all times? Where would these warehouses be? Imagine if New Orleans had such supplies on hand in warehouses in the middle of the city. All that stuff would be underwater or looted. Oh, you say, armed guards should be around the warehouses. What if these warehouses were built after Hurricane Betsy passed over the Big Easy in 1965? Then for 40 years warehouses would need to be guarded, restocked, and maintained just in case "the Big One" hit. Imagine what kind of graft and boondoggle that would have turned into in the not-so-pure New Orleans.

There are important questions about DHS' authority over the military in times of emergency. Posse comitatus is something to take seriously. Then there's the question of sheer logistics. Helicopters are useful, but they can't move as much stuff as trucks. You can have piles of relief supplies ready for distribution but if roads are impassable they're not much use. It also doesn't help when anarchy is the norm in parts of New Orleans.

So, please, enough of the blame game. There will plenty of time for that later. Blaming won't get a single person fed or clothed. It won't fix a breeched levee, and it's won't drain a city. People are doing the best they can. Even when that happens bad things occur. Such is the tragic place of Man in the universe. We will (must) look back and learn from our mistakes. Life is a process.

"Bush on Relief Effort: 'Results Not Acceptable'"

UPDATE: Austin Bay has a great international perspective on relief efforts:

We’ve a million people dispossessed and they are suffering. Critics grouse that the response to Katrina’s devestation has been abysmally slow. Compared to what? Slow compared to our expectations is the correct answer. Compared to every other nation on the planet, we’re moving at warp speed to address a natural disaster of extraordinary magnitude.

We are blessed to live a great, rich nation where we can complain like we do.

Donate Now!

Hey you! Yeah, you. You long-time reader who loves TAM for its brilliance, wit, and insight. You haven't donated to the Katrina relief efforts. What are you waiting for? The cash is needed and will be needed for some time. Hell, an entire American city has been made unliveable and we watched it happen live on television. Donate now. Don't even wait to finish reading this post. It will still be here after you've done your thing. Now, be a good American and go. Now!

German Fool

Jürgen Trittin, Germany's environmental minister, can crow all he wants that it's President Bush's fault that Katrina was so powerful. The next time a disaster hits Germany I'll just blame it on the Holocaust. It makes about as much sense.

"Katrina Should be A Lesson To US on Global Warming"

Times' Caption Caper

Armavirumque's James Panero catches the NY Times in a Walter Duranty moment.

"What Happen on Bourbon Street"

Nagin's Poor Planning?

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin told CNN's Aaron Brown that the thousands stuck in the leaking Superdome may be there a week(!) because of the flood waters. Add this to the looting begining to plague the city and the Big Easy is becoming the island from Lord of the Flies. Brown gave the mayor and Louisiana officials the benefit of the doubt when he inquired why 3500 national guardsmen haven't arrived yet in the city. He told his audience that people can't plan for every possibility in a catastrophe. Events sometimes smack you upside the head--. The same could have been said of Baghdad after Saddam's army dissolved and vanished. The U.S. was pelted with indignation from the world community (and internal dissenters) that Donald Rumsfeld didn't have enough boots on the ground to quell looters. The unexpected happens no matter how much one plans. I doubt Nagin will get half as much criticism in New Orleans as the Bush White House got/is getting in Iraq.

"When the Levee Breaks..."

With Katrina moving slightly to the east when it came ashore yesterday, I figured New Orleans lucked out again by not getting a direct hit by a powerful hurricane. Storm surges flooded the east, but today the levees broke engulfing 80% of the city. The beloved French Quarter with her old, romantic buildings is two feet underwater. It can't be good when so much of the city is underwater. Survivors are being sent to the already-damaged Superdome. Where they'll go next no one knows. To make matters worse, looters now roam. Local officals want martial law imposed. Yikes!

I've already donated to the Red Cross. I hope you will too. If you want to give to another charity the California Yankee has a list. Please give. Let's release one of the most power forces on earth: American charity. It helped tsunami victims last year, and it will help our fellow Americans right now. If you're tapped out or can't give you can always pray.

"Crisis Grows As Flooded New Orleans Looted"

"Death Toll Hits 100 with New Orleans Flooded; Gulf Coast Devastated"

UPDATE: Things aren't well inside the Superdome. Two people died, including someone who jumped from an upper level. [via TBIFOC]

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]