Another tidbit from Charity Hospital (which, as you might infer from the name, tends to the poor and indigent, and which - in a pattern which looks kind of familiar now - was dealt with last):

Beside himself after failing to get through to city and state officials, the chief of trauma surgery at Charity Hospital called a news conference on Thursday to beg for help. Charity was nearly out of food and power for its generators and had been forced to move patients to higher floors to escape looters prowling the hospital, Dr. Norman McSwain said.

From a forwarded email I just got -- I don't know who wrote this originally.

I have confirmed with the First District police that 400 families will be coming to DC on Monday to stay in the Armory. They stressed that their biggest needs at this time are bottled water and anything that would constitute a "care package." For example, toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets, undergarmets, soap, etc. These items can be brought to the First District office located at 415 4th St SW.

I don't mean to suggest that they didn't say they wouldn't, just that they are doing so now

amy, I took my info from yesterday's on-line DTH. Good to see they reconsidered.

I just got an email from my brother who is a youth minister in a church in a suburb of Houston. They're converting their family life center into a shelter for 50 people and are anticipating caring for them for a long-term. The center has bathroom/shower facilities so that will be helpful.

Every little bit helps.

Good to see they reconsidered.

Yeah, I was happy to see it. The universities around here are all doing something to take students in -- with caveats for limited spaces, preference for in-state residents and the like, most schools I've looked at today are. I just wish it were as easy to help people who are in much worse straits.

I liked this suggestion from a Salon reader:

As Salon reader Sandy Harbanuk of Juneau, Alaska, reminds us, we know of a guy from Crawford who's got 1,600 acres of land and a 10,000 square foot vacation estate he's not using just now. We wonder if he's going to post a note on craigslist offering to take some "good folks" in.

Whether it's true or not (I'm inclined to think it is, but can't prove it) the perception of the Bush administration is going to be worse than merely incompetent. It's going to look supremely uncaring.

I think the message America got in its imagery this week can be summed up as: Bush says, "Fuck you" to the poor. "Double Fuck You, if you're poor and black."

The spin will be interesting. I mean, I've already heard the right wing response which started with "they were too stupid too leave" followed by "those animals need to be shot" followed by "we're not going to subsidize rebuilding New Orleans because it's a poor investment." But I don't think that'll play after seeing people left in such desperate straits for so long.

It's just going to ring fundamentally wrong and unfair.

Ford is being nice. Every little bit.... [link]

My favorite by accidentally hitting a talk radio station on the way to work:

"I don't know why people are blaming the Bush Administration. Everyone knows that Louisiana political structure is corrupt."

As if Bush and friends aren't? As if LA, MS, and AL aren't poor states which don't really have high tax revenues anyway.

Bush cops to it:

President George Bush has conceded the initial response to Hurricane Katrina was "not acceptable" but has said every effort is being made to save lives.