Friday, September 02, 2005
Other News From The Katrina Zone
Can good news come from an area as devastated as the Gulf Coast? I don't know for sure -- I ocsillate between anger at the idiots I discussed above, despair when I think of all the friends and family I have there about whom I have so little information, fear for them, hope as only the Lord can provide, and some amalgam of unspecified emotion that periodically reduces me to long periods of staring punctuated by a welling of tears.
I am grossly frustrated that blogging seems to be the only way I can help right now. I constantly fight the urge to get in the car and drive there -- to find my family -- to help them -- to help others -- to bring them back to rest. Alas, if I plunged in as I want I would but add to the confusion, wandering aimlessly in search of poeple who are wandering aimlessly in search of aid.
One frustration is the overwhelming coverage of NOLA and how little news there is from Mississippi and Alabama. The Clarion-Ledger is the best source of Mississippi news I have found. It' still pretty thin, but it is far more than I am getting from other sources.
The Hedgehog Blog carries a riveting report from a physician inside New Orleans.
MSNBC's 'Cosmic Log" contains links to before and after satellite shots from around the region. FAscinating and horrifying all at the same time.
Red State explains why the National Guard kerfuffle is not a kerfuffle at all.
And, as I figured, the feared "toxic stew" of flood waters is not nearly as toxic as predicted.
I got an interesting suggestion in an email from a friend -- You know all those bases closing that have been talked about so much lately?
I am grossly frustrated that blogging seems to be the only way I can help right now. I constantly fight the urge to get in the car and drive there -- to find my family -- to help them -- to help others -- to bring them back to rest. Alas, if I plunged in as I want I would but add to the confusion, wandering aimlessly in search of poeple who are wandering aimlessly in search of aid.
One frustration is the overwhelming coverage of NOLA and how little news there is from Mississippi and Alabama. The Clarion-Ledger is the best source of Mississippi news I have found. It' still pretty thin, but it is far more than I am getting from other sources.
The Hedgehog Blog carries a riveting report from a physician inside New Orleans.
In a sort of cliche way, this is an edifying experience. Once is rapidly focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it all, this is a soul edifying experience.You have to admire that kind of optimism -- "a soul-edifying experience."
MSNBC's 'Cosmic Log" contains links to before and after satellite shots from around the region. FAscinating and horrifying all at the same time.
Red State explains why the National Guard kerfuffle is not a kerfuffle at all.
And, as I figured, the feared "toxic stew" of flood waters is not nearly as toxic as predicted.
I got an interesting suggestion in an email from a friend -- You know all those bases closing that have been talked about so much lately?
How about shipping these people to army bases which have been closed or soon to be closed. i.e. ArkansasThat is an idea whose time may yet come, but for now -- food, water blankets are the order of the day. Give and give generously to the charity of your choice in the Relief Roll on your left.Many good reasons:
- Facilities are built for numbers.....but people can be divided up and kept in specific areas (in the many ways that could be interpreted)
- Empty or minmally used.........
- Food and health facilities designed for numbers....
- These people will have to be put up for more than a few days....
- While people there, they can be trained for jobs....many are unemployed......
- Then people can be moved to an area of the country where they can be employed.....
