If you're nowhere physically close to personally help, I'd think the Red Cross donation is about the best thing you can do. Give blood while you're at it.

Amberglow has suggested this, and Mayor Ray Nagin has made an appeal that everybody everywhere simply swamp the offices of their legislators with emails and phone calls. Swamp them.

I'd like to find a recorded version of that interview with Nagin - he pulled no punches, and it is the most amazing (and heartbreaking) interview you will ever hear from a politician.

I've asked if anyone can find a copy of that in this askme question. Everyone needs to hear that interview.

Amberglow has suggested this, and Mayor Ray Nagin has made an appeal that everybody everywhere simply swamp the offices of their legislators with emails and phone calls. Swamp them.

Yeah, I've sent emails to my representatives. Even my mother, who is one of the least political, least likely to get involved people I've ever met, got angry today and resolved to send a letter first thing in the morning.

I still feel helpless and wish there was more I could do but at least it's something.

Taz, I hope someone has a copy. I missed the interview and would love to hear it.

also, anyone with space to spare for putting up refugees can post at katrinahousing.org.

Taz, that site sends up big red flags for me. Do you have any info about it?

" IT IS RISKY TO LEND YOUR PROpERTY TO UNKNOWN PEOPLE, AND EVEN MORE DANGEROUS IF THIS LOCATION IS IN YOUR OWN HOME, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE IS NO SCREENING PROVIDED BY THIS WEBSITE. COMMON SENSE SAYS THAT YOU AT LEAST SCREEN VICTIMS SINCE YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE CRIMINALS--IN FACT THEY MAY NOT BE VICTIMS AT ALL, BUT RATHER PREDATORS PRETENDING TO BE VICTIMS (THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE ASHAMED). SHOULD SOMETHING UNFORTUNATE OR EVEN DISLIKED WHILE YOU ARE HELPING THESE PEOPLE, THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO, NOR CAN WE ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF THE CONTENT THAT GOES ON THIS SITE. WE MERELY PROVIDE A FORUM FOR PEOPLE TO SHARE INFORMATION."

ooh. funky formatting!

It just seems to me that they can't verify all the information, so those who are offering/responding to offers need to be careful. This is going to be the case at any clearinghouse for help that involves physical proximity.

Anyway, I have a few friends I am tracking to see what they are going to do... If any of them need help with space, clothes, whatever, I will make a post here just in case anyone can help.

'buyer beware' in other words. Fair enough too.
taz did you email the radio station?
Actually taz......the interview is on again in 14minutes from NOW.

on WWL

(or at least...they said they "would return to the Nagin interview"....can't say for sure if they'll play it all of course)

I don't have the ability to record it... so if anyone can, please do!

the link.

fixed funky formatting

Wow..just WOW. You do not here any politician speak like that very often...err...ever.
Sorry I couldn't record it either taz.

just a few very, very incomplete quotes:

These godamned ships that are coming, I don't see them...

I am pissed...

They are feeding the public a line of bull, and they are spinning, and people are dying down here.

We authorized 8 billion to go into iraq after 911; we gave the president unprecedented powers, lickety split... you mean to tell me that... we can't figure out a way to access the resources we need...

Somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and figure this out right now

I don't want to see anybody do any more goddamned press conferences... get off your asses and let's do something

But we need to find an audio file, because just transcribing some partial quotes doesn't do it justice at all. I know I'm overemotional, but I think every person in the U.S. needs to hear this thing.

amuseDetachment from the askme thread has a torrent.

Can anyone make a streaming audio file from this? Or mp3, though I suppose the bandwidth will be a problem there.

Actually, now that I think about it... maybe with coral cache, hosting an mp3 would work. I suppose it depends on the size...

taz, why don't you email mathowie and ask him to host it - he's done it before for much less important items. Also, you could repost the torrent URL to all the Katrina threads - most people probably do the torrents.
I actually emailed the station to ask if they would make an mp3 +/- transcript available. No reply yet of course. size is 3.23Mb - I'm 2/3 of the way d/loading.

Woah. I just heard the interview on CNN. I'm not sure I've ever heard a politician open up and unload like that. If only they'd do it more often. I'm getting ready to download the torrent now.

I might be able to provide hosting here, and if we use Coral too then all the better. We need to confirm first that it's the right file though.

Once you guys have downloaded it could you e-mail me a copy to [e-mail address removed] ?

Thanks

CNN had it? That's great... I've been searching on the cnn site (and other places) for anything on it, and haven't found anything.

If we put a link here, then we can switch it out to different sites if needed. If we post it at MeFi, we won't be able to change the url. Matt may be interested, but it will be quite some time before he's awake.

Sent, dodgy.

Also, if necessary, it could be edited; it's the last half that's really explosive.

The torrent is the interview.

I just heard the CNN interview too and I guess I'm not the only one it's sent back here. More post in a few minutes.

But first: Dodgygeezer, taz, or other admins, can we "sticky" this thread to the top-center of the page or something like it? Manually edit a link in to link to the thread. Not in the sidebar clutter, front and center.

Err, I mean, I heard the WWL interview.

I stuck it up on Yousendit. Just so there's a copy available until a more permanent place can be found. The first 35 seconds or so got cut off but, like taz said, the best stuff is in the latter half of the interview.

I have to go out for about 15-20 minutes... be right back guys.

OK, I've posted the link to the front page.

CNN has the head of FEMA on right now and they are asking him to answer some of Nagin's criticisms. Oh damn. Soledad just grilled him as to why CNN was getting better intel than FEMA, specifically in reference to why FEMA didn't know about the refugees at the convention center until yesterday (his answer: "We were busy performing life-saving activities and we rely on the state for that information"). Wow. She's laying into him pretty hard.

OK.

I don't have any money. OK, I have a dollar and some change. In a little bit I'm going to toast me up some bagels I got from the day-old rack at the local store. (This is just perspective, I guess, of where I'm at.)

I want to fucking do something. And I don't know if giving what little money I could scrounge to the Red Cross is even going to be worth it. Don't let this stop you from contributing, but it's going to cost them more simple to process my donation than I can actually donate.

I have a friend who's a regional co-ordinater for the the Red Cross in Los Angeles. From what he's told me about his experiences, the Red Cross is obviously not a shiny, happy, fully-functional organization. A huge amount of money goes simply to the admins and logistics and planning and other stuff. While he remains a volunteer, it's more for his own peace of mind and activity because he's a nerd like that. He does Ham radio and other "civic defense" type stuff as well. So he likes having the keys to response centers, warehouses and shelters in his pockets, and he likes contributing intelligence to the planning. But he's not pleased with the way things are run at all.

The scope of this disaster is just... beyond words. Yeah, we knew it was going to be bad, but we have no idea. I can only extrapolate how much misery is going on down there right now, and I'm probably not extrapolating enough. It simply doesn't fit into words. It doesn't fit on a TV screen, it can't be framed in the viewfinder of a video camera. There aren't enough hours and miles and weeks of video tape to contain it. There will never be enough worthless press conferences, videophone meetings, joint task forces or committees. The 9/11 attacks are... a small wastebasket fire compared to this. Loma Prieta in the Bay Area is a mild bump in the road.

I think it's just kind of barely starting to sink in for me, like it's just now seeping through my force fields of disbelief. It's absolutely incomprehensible what's going on down there.

I want to do something so bad it hurts. I don't have a car. I don't drive. But just get me there.

Give me a fucking axe to chop through roofs. Let me use my own packs and gear, and give me a bunch of water and rations and a first aid kit and an 10 dollar inflatable raft and I'll wade into that stinking place and just start with the first people I see that need help and float them out, and then I'll turn around and do it again. I'm able-bodied, intelligent, and an ex Scout. I know first aid. I know how to splint and tie bandages. I know how to treat hypothermia and dehydration and exposure. I know CPR. I can operate a radio. I can swim like a mofo, and I've swum in 20 foot hurricane swells for fun.

Just give me permission to do the best I can and I'm there.

Give me a t-shirt or a white flag with a peace sign on it or something. Give me the chance to try and help with my own hands there. Give me the chance to risk voluntarily risk my own neck.

Nagin brought up a very interesting point, that a lot of the current problems with rioting/looting/violence are probably due to the fact that there are now thousands or tens of thousands of hard core drug addicts jonesing for a fix.

I don't know what the solution to that is. But I wouldn't be morally opposed at all to them distributing a little dope alongside the water and rations to soften the blow and ease the pain and just mellow things out.

I don't even really know where to begin. But multipy me by 1000x, or 10000x, or 100000x, and we'll have this mess fixed up and smoothed out before you even know it.

So, if anyone is considering forming a rescue posse and trying to get down there to actually do some hands-on work and tell those goddamn bureaucrats to stick their fucking slow-ass logistical horsehit and worthless excuses up their clogged up assholes, I think it just might be time.

They have their chance, and as a thinking, breathing human being it's tearing me up just sitting hear and listening to talking heads tell me I can't go down there to try and at least fix something no matter how small myself.

loquacious I'd never accuse you of laziness or insincerity (welll...lets leave hallucinogenic tangents out of this for the mo') and I absolutely believe that you would make a positive contribution.

But..

It's....it's just not possible man. That's of course not to say that the situation is in hand - it obviously isn't - it's more that they just couldn't handle individuals or posses turning up at the state border or wherever offering manpower, as superficially asinine as it might seem. The logistics of coordination, with fuckall decent communications, lagging arrival of multiple troop, aid agencies, transporters and medical teams in an environment where guns are going off and there's only a single serviceable roadway -- those logistics are a freaking nightmare. So individuals would have to be turned away because incorporation of their efforts, like small cash donations, are just too much effort to effectively use. You know that I think.

I'm a long way away and I've felt heartbreak over the whole scenario so I can understand your wanting to make a difference. But there's no honour lost nor should you burden yourself with any guilt because circumstances don't at present allow you to get directly involved.

I guess lateral is the way to go. Sublimate that energy into drafting correspondence to politicians, pressuring for swifter govt involvement, use this as a springboard of idealism and join a party or develop a grassroots campaign seeking better homefront capital investment in safety, read up on all the other reducible public dangers in the country and become active in getting resources allocated to help.

I guess I'm trying to say that there are other things that in the big picture from this moment's perspective, that could better do with your contribution of energy. And whatever you do in that regard will be a spiritual contribution to those poor bastards in NOLA in any event.

So what should I say to my reps? I opened an email but find myself at a loss for words.

Say, I am your constituency, and if I never ask for another official act, I ask you for this: HELP NEW ORLEANS! Do whatever you can as our elected representative to do what each and every one of us are dying to do - help in any way we can. Use your influence, make sure the president knows where we stand, talk to whomever you need to talk to; do anything necessary, but DO SOMETHING, I'm/we're begging you.

Or somesuch.

Why not take your cue from Nagin?

So and so: Get off your ass and get down there. People are dying. It has been five days. People are losing hope. Five days. If you have any decency, any dedication at all to your countrymen, you will stop dragging your feet and get moving. Every moment you hesitate means more life lost, more hopes destroyed. People are relying on you to be a leader. Not just those along the devastated Gulf Coast but also those of us who wish we had the power to do something about this. Most of us don't. You do. And if you continue to refuse to use that power to help those who need it so desperately then you can rest assured that the people you represent will not forget.

That's something along the lines of what I wrote. It may be a bit maudlin or over the top but I felt helpless and I was absolutely disgusted that more wasn't being done.

beautiful, LeeJay. I kiss you.

I am in Houston, and we ARE helping. The situation is so large that the organizations are too overwhelmed to accept my hands, and those of the others I have talked to.

Instead, I, and those I have talked to, are reaching out individually. I have found leads on three houses, and sent them on. I have found doctor names and sent them. Today there was an anguished request for a child psychologist. I sent the name of a local one we use.

I am sure that there will be several opportunities this weekend to help strangers.

The concern that several people have expressed to me is that of the fear of being taken advantage of.

We can loot find drink beer and relax. W says everything is OK.

I wish there was more to do too. The position of witness is a position of horror, but sometimes we need to abide in that horror because there really is nothing better to do.

Yeesh. I just had an interesting discussion with a flak in Elizabeth Dole's Raleigh office. Very defensive, she was, listing numbers of National Guard troops, etc., and not having an answer for why there's still anarchy in the city and people dying of starvation four days after the storm. She finally said she'd pass along my message to Washington.

My partner and I have donated $150 to the Red Cross, and arranged for her employer to match it.

PLEASE make sure that if you're donating to a disaster-relief agency that you specifically earmark the funds as being for Hurricane Katrina relief. If you don't, your donation will go into a general fund, and that's not what the people of the Gulf coast need right now.

I just want to verify: Mercy Corps are good people, yes? I seem to remember someone (here?) telling me they're very good at minimizing administrative costs.

I wrote to my reps as well, but I understand the desire to do something more.

I just got an email, in fact, from a former neighbor--a fellow writer who got a Fulbright to live/work in Sri Lanka. She was there when the tsunami hit and stayed on for a few months to assist in relief efforts.

She's been back for a month or so and is currently sending out emails drumming up donations. I'm glad she's doing this--and I trust she's better at this than I would be, given she's spent a good bit of the last year doing relief work. Here's the email:

Hey All,

I know we're all broke, but we're also nice. I'm organizing a dropoff for relief supplies for Katrina survivors. TODAY and TOMORROW (Saturday), please take supplies to 612 Mendenhall (at the corner of Hill Street). This is the home of Fay and Ezra, who've kindly offered their porch for the cause. If no one's home, leave things inside the screened-in porch. On Sunday morning, I'll deliver the stuff myself, either to a drop-off place in Winston Salem, or to Baton Rouge. If you can't leave supplies, make a $5 donation (there will be a box on the porch). I'm going to make a Wal-Mart trip, too. You can give money to Red Cross, etc, but this is a chance to give directly (the NGOs keep about 99 cents per dollar). I'll obviously cover the overhead myself and I will keep the receipts for purchased supplies if you want to check up on your investment.

So here's what we need:

Bottled Water
Canned food
Clean clothes good for HOT weather
Blankets
Diapers
Baby Formula***
Tampons/Pads
Antibacterial Soap
Basic medical supplies: band aids, fever-reducing pain killers, antiseptic, cotton swabs, etc
TOYS, especially crayons, markers, paper (slightly less than essential but good for immediate trauma releif)
Pet food

Keep in mind that folks need stuff they can carry easily. In Sri Lanka, lots of well-meaning people sent things like high-heeled shoes, panty-hose and old wool coats (average temp there is about 90 degress). So none of that.

You guys are all WONDERFUL. If you've got any questions call me, or Fay and Ezra. It would be nice if the Red Cross could take care of all this, but I can't say I've got much faith in that organization (nice people, bad system). If anyone wants to join me for the ride, lemme know.

Love,
Lori

I think I agree with pecay about tons of people showing up and being more of a nuisance than anything--but I'm also happy that some folks (who I hope, by and large, know what they're doing) are going anyway to drop off supplies.