The only thing worrying me is that so many of the victims are poor they're likely to be pushed aside. They can't afford DNA testing on their own, and the general corruption of NOLA and the screw-the-poor attitude of Dubya and Co. worries me.
I don't think it's ever the obligation of the families to identify bodies.
However, let's be blunt. The Jonestown massacre (yeah, okay, 20 years ago) resulted in 1,000 deaths, of which 400 were buried in a mass grave in Oakland because they couldn't be identified. Chances are pretty high that with the flooding and the heat, there are going to be a lot of unidentifiable bodies.
God help their families.
And I'm still waiting to hear that the people in the rural towns in Mississippi are getting help. Those people are without power, gas, water, food, and so many trees are down they can't get anywhere for help.
So, we've got thousands of people dead, because of PAPERWORK. It's like the punchline to a really bad joke.
INEXCUSABLE.
I want impeachment hearings.
Anne Rice's open letter:
Looks like she actually succumbed to an editor.
t /catty
this is a fuckload of people who relocated to TEXAS.
More than 120,000 refugees were in 97 shelters in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and dozens of smaller cities across the vast state, Perry's office said, with another 100,000 in hotels and motels. Uncounted more were in churches or private homes.
My dear lord.
Every time I think it cannot get worse, it does. I'm sick to my stomach.
This is a tiny thing, but nice to read. Symphonies around the country reach out to displaced musicians: [link]
National Guard troops from New Mexico were ready to go to Louisiana on Sunday -- the day before the hurricane hit -- but they couldn't be mobilized until the PAPERWORK ARRIVED FROM WASHINGTON, which it did....ON THURSDAY.
That's incredible. On CNN on Friday Lott was arguing with Anderson Cooper about the speed of the National Guard response-- that they're not on base, need to get their shit together, etc. So they need a
72 hour
gear up time-- how is that
possible?
How can we seriously expect a three-day time period for emergency response?
More relevant, however, if they knew that it would take three days to mobilize, there's no reason why they should have been mobilized any later than Sunday, and they could have been mobilized Friday. Sunday the city was evacuated. The Guard always does disaster relief. There was no question they would be needed.
This appears to be the worst failure of federal government possibly ever.
A friend of mine works for Starbucks in their corporate offices. They're finding places and jobs for all Starbucks employees in the hurricane zone. It's, well, it's something. And good on them.
It's, well, it's something. And good on them.
Hopefully it's a precedent, you know? They pride themselves on treating their barristas decently (health insurance, things like that) but maybe even places that
don't
will be inspired to make similar offers.
It could help with the refugee situation a LOT. Towns could help famalies establish themselves that much more easily if they already had jobs lined up. It'll be sad for people to be so far flung, but its going to be a long time before everyone can go back home anyway.
