Hey, Libkitty, don't suppose you happen to know a 50something couple named Julie and John, or her son, a nearly-30 fisherman named Aaron, do you?

t /Alaska Smallness Check.

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From Betsy's link:

FEMA is under fire for its slow response to the storm, which is feared to have killed hundreds. Federal aid was slow in reaching southeast Louisiana in the wake of the hurricane last week.

Isn't it in the thousands by now? (Unless they have one count for everyone killed by the storm, and another for everyone killed by incompetence after the storm) (which would be more accurate, but not something I expect to see with this administration).

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I think the "thousands" was just a guestimate. So far.

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Cindy, the family doesn't sound familiar to me, although they certainly might have. I have run into friends in the Seattle airport before, although, not so much in the last few years. But I don't know anyone who has recently moved to the Boston area.

They're a Coast Guard family, apparently. They may only be here for a year. I will update with more scoop when I get it. The woman is cute. She had a flippy little mini-kiltish skirt on today, and has a tattoo. She looks like she could be a Buffista Spirit Baby--far more than I do, for sure.

I'm actually really curious as to where in Alaska this family is from, because my guess is that her statement isn't even true for most schools in her town (if the town is big enough for multiple schools). Odds are they're from Anchorage, both because they have half the population of the state and because they often tend to think of themselves as being the whole state, but you never know.

She was probably just editing her background story as she told it. I just had that pedantic moment of "But...surely you don't speak for the whole state." In truth, I'm sure she wasn't trying to. It was a quick Q&A with the teacher, and one of the things the teacher mentioned was how personally Kindergarten and First Grade students take it, when you pack them a snack they don't like. A lot of parents figure they'll only pack healthy stuff, because if the kid has no other choice, he'll eat it, and he does, usually, but he also feels like, "Mommy knows I don't want apples, and she packed me an apple. She doesn't love me very much."

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I think it may be worse than some have actually shown, especially considering the American press's reticence to show dead bodies (not that I really think this is a bad thing).

That's a subject that the BBC America news is hitting hard -- why are dead bodies being left in the streets? And they're showing dead bodies (though at a discreet distance).

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Is it too early to start the "what should I have for lunch" talk?

How about the "what are people doing this weekend" talk?

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Odds are they're from Anchorage, both because they have half the population of the state and because they often tend to think of themselves as being the whole state, but you never know.

Ah, Anchorage. As close as you can get to Alaska without actually being in it. That's a subject that the BBC America news is hitting hard -- why are dead bodies being left in the streets?

I read that article. It's almost unfathomable.

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That's a subject that the BBC America news is hitting hard -- why are dead bodies being left in the streets?

And sadly, the closest they're getting to an answer is, "We're focusing on helping the living."

OK, fair prioritizing as far as it goes. But responders shouldn't still be having to choose between feeding the living and collecting the dead at this stage.

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why are dead bodies being left in the streets?

Limited resources, I'd guess. Sadly, that's not the most pressing problem.

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Asked if the move was a demotion, Brown said: "No. No. I'm still the director of FEMA."

Heh. Crazy denial land. It's like when a portion of fandom rejects a plot turn. "No, no, no! I disbelieve it. It didn't happen. Not my woobie!"

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