Hurricane Katrina

Right, this is the post I’ve been holding back on writing but I have time now so I’m going to get stuck in. Almost 4 weeks after Katrina hit my initial thoughts on the disaster haven’t changed much. I’m not going to post in-depth about my feelings because: (a) that’d take too long and (b) I’d probably get slammed for being “anti-American” or whatever that means. Instead I’ll post links to posts and sites detailing stories about Katrina:

• We always think we have more time than we do: Coaimhe wrote that post about St. Rita’s nursing home which took too long to be evacuated as the waters rose and most of the occupants died. It’s shocking that the operators were that negligent not to move everyone out.
• Black people loot, white people find? : One of the more shocking stories in terms of media coverage. Things like this prompted Kanye West to make the comments he made.
• Being Poor: Seriously scary entry by John Scalzi on what being poor actually means.
• 18-year-old “pirates” a school bus, rescues 100 from NOLA: Amazing story of an 18-year-old, Jabber Gibson, who took an abandonded school bus and packed it with people before driving all the way to Houston. He said: “I just took the bus and drove all the way here…seven hours straight”.
• Heartbreaking video of Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, whose collegue lost his mother in a nursing home story similiar to that of St. Rica’s. She had called her son a number of times to ask when the rescuers were coming. They never did. 😥
• Astrodome photos from a group setting up web access inside the Done.
• Jacob Appelbaum’s photos of life inside the Astrodome: Some stunning photos in that set.
• George Bush Don’t Like Black People Music Video: Fantastic video for The Legendary K.O.’s remix of Kanye West’s Golddigger entitled “George Bush Don’t Like Black People”.

Please donate to the Red Cross for the victims of the Hurricane and also don’t forget about the animals who have suffered terribly throughout the past few weeks.