Shut Up And Give
These people need help from the government, for sure. But right now, they need our help. They need your help, and luckily, they need it from the one thing you control....And what are a lot of us doing? Whining....Look at the reports from New Orleans and Mississippi. If the sole effect Katrina has on you is some time in line to buy pricey gas, how freakin' lucky are you?
Read the whole thing.
If you have enough time to write specious finger-pointing partisan attacks, you have enough time to go to the local Red Cross and offer up a pint. You have enough time to write them a check while you're sitting there. You have enough time to find your local CERT team or MMRS team, and volunteer. You have enough time for the training required. You have enough time to answer phones or open mail at a local relief agency. You even have enough time to actually learn something about emergency preparedness and disaster response and logistics, and problems of scale and scope, and the layered heirarchy of local, state, and federal response systems. You have enough time to become part of the solution. Without a large cadre of trained volunteers, effective response to mass disaster is impossible. Even with them, it's very difficult. Over the last two years here I have repeatedly urged people to explore the above options (and many more) for supporting their communities and country in times of crisis. How big a kick in the ass do you need?
Or you can be a political looter, hovering over the wreckage and despair, scrabbling to snatch out some shiny baubles or little scraps of bloody meat for some kind of perverse personal or political satisfaction or advantage.
Cast your vote. I cast mine long ago, so I have to go now. I have work to do.
