Katrina

[bobster]

Odds are, he's fine. I understand the evacuation went well as long as people had cars. Pop's car was not only in good working condition when I he was such a good host to El Vez and I, if memory serves, it's a hybrid -- and I'm sure the better mileage came in handly.

[selfmademug]

The footage is just horrific. Gulfport and Biloxi esp; it's just tragic that this would hit anywhere, but it's especially sad that it hit some of the poorest parts of the country.

[kimmy]

All of our thoughts are with you, Pop. Hope you're doing OK.

[DrSpooky]

I came across this site while checking for news reports that were closer to their source. This was linked to off a N.O. TV station's website. It is posts from people looking for reports from family and loved ones. I know it is unlikely but if anyone on the board can provide any information, I know it would be appreciated.

http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/

[noiseradio]

It's all just so sad, and words won't do at all. But pop, when you read this, please know how sorry I am about all of it. And let us know how we can help. Be safe.

[verbal gymnastics]

On a brighter note, ABC has just renewed Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for ten more seasons!

Clouds and silver linings.

[BlueChair]

I e-mailed our friend pophead2k. I will let you all know if and when he responds.

[legman open to offers]

Our thoughts and prayers are with pophead.

Such a horrific scene. So many needing rescue with nowhere to go, no instructions on what to do. No electricity to get money or gas.

And now police getting pulled off search and rescue to deal with looters and thievery.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Incredible shot of New Orleans before and after, from the NY Times:

[verbal gymnastics]

Is this one of those Spot the Difference pictures?

Seriously though -

[Who Shot Sam?]

Just shocking scenes in New Orleans. People dying in broad daylight outside the Convention Center, bodies everywhere.

I'm sure that now that Bush is back from his well-deserved vacation he'll get the National Guard in there to sort things out. What? They're all deployed in Iraq? Never mind.

Complete disaster of a response, both federally and locally. They should have been busing people out of New Orleans days before the storm hit.

[BlueChair]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Mus ... index.html

Fats Domino missing in N.O. floods

NEW YORK (AP) -- Fats Domino was missing Thursday, days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, said his longtime agent, Al Embry.

Embry told The Associated Press that he hadn't been able to contact Domino since talking to him Sunday evening by phone.

The 77-year-old R&B legend, whose real name is Antoine Domino, told Embry that he planned to stay at his New Orleans house with his wife, Rosemary, and their daughter.

"I hope somebody turns him up, but as of right now, we haven't got anybody that knows where he's at," said Embry, who has worked with Domino for 28 years. "I would think he might be safe because somebody said he was on top of the balcony."

Checquoline Davis, Domino's niece, posted a message on Craigslist.com Thursday pleading for information. Davis wrote that Domino, his wife, their children and grandchildren "didn't get out" of the second floor.

Domino, who has rarely appeared in public in recent years, has a home in the 9th ward, a low-lying area of the flooded city.

Getting information on possible missing persons has been nearly impossible as phone lines for hospitals and police haven't been working.

Domino has sold more than 110 million records in his long career, including the legendary singles "Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That a Shame."

His 1950 recording of "The Fat Man" is sometimes called the first real rock 'n' roll record. He was among the first honorees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Just watched that evil fucker from the Whitewater investigation (the guy who now runs Homeland Security) weaseling his way out of the hard questions at a press conference. Bush is coming on in ten miniutes to spout his usual bullshit.

[miss buenos aires]

Apparently, black people loot, white people "find."

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/phot ... oma_photo1

[Emotional Toothpaste]

Also heard that Allen Toussaint hasn't been heard from.

[selfmademug]

Apparently, black people loot, white people "find."

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/ladm10208301530

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/phot ... oma_photo1

No shit. Chalk it up to more "liberal media bias".

[Tim(e)]

I have to say that I am amazed at how quickly things appear to have descended into an almost anarchic state... the news reports are making it start to look like "Escape From New York", particularly reports relating to the Superdome.

I sincerely hope that the apparent disintegration of social values we are seeing on our TV screens here on the other side of the world is all just an illusion created by the media, but I somehow get the feeling that there must be an element of truth to it none-the-less, which is very sad.

I am not trying to belittle what has occurred in New Orleans (it is obviously a major, major disaster and this is just my personal observation) however, I can't help but reflect on how (relatively) orderly and supportive of each other, the people of Aceh Province were following the horrendous earthquake/tsunami... perhaps this was because they were a very poor people to begin with and they were used to all sorts of hardships in their everyday lives, yet they still managed to put aside long standing differences and work together; and that was no mean feat considering the level of ill feeling running between the Muslim and Christian factions.

[cosmos]

Also heard that Allen Toussaint hasn't been heard from.

Toussaint is okay. He made it to the Superdome.

[Who Shot Sam?]

I have to say that I am amazed at how quickly things appear to have descended into an almost anarchic state... the news reports are making it start to look like "Escape From New York", particularly reports relating to the Superdome.

I sincerely hope that the apparent disintegration of social values we are seeing on our TV screens here on the other side of the world is all just an illusion created by the media, but I somehow get the feeling that there must be an element of truth to it none-the-less, which is very sad.

I think we are living in a very sick society, constantly teetering on the edge of anarchy. Americans are plugged full of this "every man for himself" bullshit, and it's reinforced day after day on TV screens and by our politicians. When people get desperate it all comes out in strange ways. I don't blame the poor people stuck at the Superdome or the Convention Center for feeling desperate and abandoned. The evacuation and relief effort has been one big fuck-up, exacerbated by the fact that the folks in charge really don't give much of a shit about poor people in the inner city. I'd be freaked out too if people were dropping like flies in broad daylight as the authorities stood helpless. I'm sure that those in charge would argue that they could never have foreseen a disaster on this scale, but isn't it their job to protect against just this sort of worst-case scenario - or at least be ready to respond when it arrives?

[selfmademug]

I think we are living in a very sick society, constantly teetering on the edge of anarchy. Americans are plugged full of this "every man for himself" bullshit, and it's reinforced day after day on TV screens and by our politicians. When people get desperate it all comes out in strange ways. I don't blame the poor people stuck at the Superdome or the Convention Center for feeling desperate and abandoned.

Especially when you figure in that these are among the poorest areas in the United States, and that the population is disproportionately African-American, which is another name for a population that is disproportionately impoverished and that, a handful of generations ago, could not vote, and not too many more generations before that, was brought forcibly half way around the world as slaves. See MBA's citation above for evdence of our current level of enlightenment on matters of race.

Add to that the current economic obscenties (below I'll quote an editorial from today's NYT as its as good a summary of those as any) and it's not surprising to see that when you treat people like animals, they act like animals.
From a piece in today's NYT:

Income inequality is an economic and social ill, but the administration and the Congressional majority don't seem to recognize that. When Congress returns from its monthlong summer vacation next week, two of the leadership's top priorities include renewing the push to repeal the estate tax, which affects only the wealthiest of families, and extending the tax cuts for investment income, which flow largely to the richest Americans. At the other end of the spectrum, lawmakers have stubbornly refused to raise the minimum wage: $5.15 an hour since 1997. They will also be taking up proposals for deep budget cuts in programs that ameliorate income inequality, like Medicaid, food stamps and federal student loans.

[Who Shot Sam?]

There's a great article by Joan Walsh on Salon.com that addresses many of these same points. I won't post the whole thing, but here are the first few paragraphs:

The nightmare in New Orleans has a lot to tell us about poverty: the desperate poverty of the city's African-American population, of course, but also the poverty of political debate in the U.S. today. The crisis unfolding before us -- dispossession, looting, people shooting at rescue workers, the president’s dim response, and now, people dying in front of our eyes outside the Superdome -– rubs our noses in so much that's wrong in our country, it’s excruciating to watch. But I’m especially struck by the inability of our existing political discourse to describe, let alone to solve, the intractable social problems that have come together in this flood whose proportions and portents seem almost biblical.

Ever since the first looting photos made cable news I’ve felt sick, like here we go again, we’re going to have a new round in the culture war about the poor. Are they victims, or barbarians? If Sean Hannity's attacking them, well, I sure as hell have to defend them. When right-wing blogger Boortz is saying shoot them on sight, somebody has to say that’s sick and crazy, right? Personally, with all the destruction in sight on Tuesday and Wednesday, I couldn’t be horrified by people stealing food; I didn’t even care much about people running off with sneakers and beer and TVs. Looting Walmart? I don’t defend it, but what do we expect? These are desperately poor people who’ve been deliberately left behind, in so many senses of the word –- left behind by society, shut up in housing projects and hideous poverty, and now truly left behind by local and federal officials who failed to come up with an evacuation plan for people too poor and isolated to leave on their own. If looting Walmart was the worst of it, I thought, we should consider ourselves lucky.

But it wasn't. Thursday we saw people shooting at rescue helicopters (with guns they stole from Wal-Mart, perhaps?), at hospital supply trucks, at workers trying to evacuate the sick from hospitals, the horrifying next chapter in an already awful story. I started to feel like my indifference to yesterday's looting was morally lazy, a reflexive shrug at having to really think about the poor, who they are, why they are. What a crazy, depraved way to treat people who are trying to help. But having said that, we're not absolved from trying to understand and reckon with the chaos. Like it or not, this crisis is going to be with us for a long time, because it's been coming for a long time -– we're going to have to face issues of race, poverty and civil rights we've long chosen to ignore.

[Tim(e)]

After seeing the latest by-line in our Sydney newspaper I decided to check out CNN and Fox News websirtes for confirmation, but could find nothing... however, if it is factual, this is really scary shit...

Sourced from the Sydney Morning Herald

Shoot To Kill, Troops Told

As thousands wait to be rescued or receive aid, authorities have issued a "shoot to kill" order in a bid to stem the mounting lawlessness in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said a detachment of 300 National Guard troops, who have served in Iraq, had been authorised to shoot to kill "hoodlums" in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans.

"Three hundred of the Arkansas National Guard have landed in the city of New Orleans," Blanco said.

"These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well-trained, experienced, battle-tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets," Blanco said.
"They have M-16s and they are locked and loaded.

"These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will," said Blanco.

[Gillibeanz]

One of the most advanced countrys in the world - why is it this bad?? It makes you realise just how fragile the fabric of society is. Disasters - they bring out the very best in people but they also bring out the very worst in others..............

I cant even begin to imagine your peoples pain, the footage is heartbreaking. I really hope things start to improve quickly.

[spooky girlfriend]

I just found out last night that a church in Huntsville has become a local red cross shelter for some victims of the hurricane. Apparently, 35 people are already here and they are expecting the number to climb to 75 any day. The children included range from 9 months to 12 years.

Our local wine store sent out a mass email asking for donations of blankets, food, clothing - basically anything you need when you're starting out with nothing. They are trying to set up televisions and game systems for the kids and have asked for any toys, videos, stuffed animals, etc.

I know I have things I can send, so that's probably what I'll be gathering up today. I can't imagine starting all over again. At least I won't feel so helpless when I watch the news - it will do my heart good to be able to see where my donations are going and that someone is actually going to benefit from them directly.

The news coverage has made me feel rather small lately. . . . .

[mood swung]

Tim(e), CNN is confirming the 'locked and loaded, shoot to kill' orders now.
sweet jesus.