Katrina | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Archive for the 'Katrina' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

New Orleans public housing activist Sharon Jasper

Sharon Jasper says she’s poor and is demanding her “right” to her government-subsidized housing.

Sharon Jasper, a former St. Bernard complex resident presented by activists Tuesday as a victim of changing public housing policies, took a moment before the start of the City Hall protest to complain about her subsidized private apartment, which she called a “slum.” A HANO voucher covers her rent on a unit in an old Faubourg St. John home, but she said she faced several hundred dollars in deposit charges and now faces a steep utility bill.

“I’m tired of the slum landlords, and I’m tired of the slum houses,” she said.

Pointing across the street to an encampment of homeless people at Duncan Plaza, Jasper said, “I might do better out here with one of these tents.”

Jasper, who later allowed a photographer to tour the subsidized apartment, also complained about missing window screens, a slow leak in a sink, a warped back door and a few other details of a residence that otherwise appeared to have been recently renovated.

This is Sharon Jasper’s “slum.”

[Ted Jackson / Times-Picayune] Sharon Jasper sits in the living room of her voucher-backed private residence. “I might be poor but I don’t like to live poor. I thank God for a place to live but it’s pitiful what people give you.”

Nice TV, huh? Nice hardwood floors, too. Furnishings aren’t too shabby, either, are they?

BITCH.

By the way, Sharon Jasper isn’t just some random “victim” picked off the streets by activists. She IS an activist herself, according to none other than the New Orleans Labor Media Project, which is very much a part of the protests.

[T]he politicians, the government agencies and the developers have surrounded St. Bernard with a chain link fence topped by barbed-wire. And they’ve told hard-working, God-fearing people like Sharon Jasper to stay the hell out.

“Our families have been displaced all over the United States. Bring them back, then let’s talk about redevelopment,” Jasper argues.

Jasper is fighting back. She spearheads a tenant association that is working with the AFL-CIO’s Gulf Coast Revitalization Program to convince local authorities to rehabilitate rather than annihilate public housing stock.

“We, the poor working class, are the people who helped build this city,” Jasper says, jabbing her finger into the air, as if she were about to pull down the menacing barbed wire barrier. “We have a right to return. This is our home.”

Somebody call a waaahmbulance. As you might expect, there is plenty of housing available to her in New Orleans.

As housing activists continued to protest the proposed demolition of four public housing complexes, federal housing officials provided new details Tuesday about hundreds of public housing units available across New Orleans, with dozens of units ready for occupants in the B.W. Cooper, the former Desire and the Guste developments.

Housing officials said hundreds of private apartments where disaster or Section 8 vouchers can be used are also available to help meet the needs of displaced public housing residents, both in the short and long term.

Anyone else sick of the people of New Orleans who demand more, more, more, but apparently do nothing to try to improve their own situations (much less anyone else’s) themselves?

Anyone else here who pays his or her own rent or mortgage who wouldn’t mind having a home like Sharon Jasper’s, massive teevee and all? Oh, but she’s “poor” and doesn’t like living in that “slum.” Disgusting, disgraceful leech.

Active Hurricane Season Predicted for 2007

I know, they said that last year and (thankfully!) it was a bust. Don’t get complacent–complacency about hurricanes is what gets people killed. Make sure you’re ready in case you need to hit the road! Here’s the report:

NOAA’s 2007 Atlantic hurricane season outlook indicates a very high 75% chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 20% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season. This outlook is produced by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC), National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Research Division (HRD), and Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). See NOAA definitions of above-, near-, and below-normal seasons.

The outlook calls for a very high likelihood of an above-normal hurricane season, with 13-17 named storms, 7-10 hurricanes, and 3-5 major hurricanes. The likely range of the ACE index is 125% to 210% of the median. This prediction signifies an expected sharp increase in activity from the near-normal season observed in 2006.

The prediction for an above-normal 2007 hurricane season reflects the expected combination of two main climate factors: 1) the continuation of conditions that have been conducive to above-normal Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1995, and 2) the strong likelihood of either ENSO-neutral or La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

An updated Atlantic hurricane outlook will be issued in early August, which begins the peak (August-October) of the hurricane season.

Regarding La Niña:

“There is some uncertainty this year as to whether or not La Niña will form, and if it does how strong it will be,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center. “The Climate Prediction Center is indicating that La Niña could form in the next one to three months. If La Niña develops, storm activity will likely be in the upper end of the predicted range, or perhaps even higher depending on how strong La Niña becomes. Even if La Niña does not develop, the conditions associated with the ongoing active hurricane era still favor an above-normal season.”

Bleh. I hate dealing with the nagging threat of hurricanes, but I guess it’s the price you pay to live in Paradise. It sure gets old, though, and I’ve only lived here for a few years. I have a feeling that a lot of people that don’t evacuate stay home because they get sick of packing up and heading for higher ground, because I know that by the time Katrina came, I was already thinking of riding it out. If my daughter had been on vacation with her dad, I just might have stayed home (out of laziness more than complacency). Katrina certainly straightened out that sort of thinking.

I just pray we’ll get lucky again this year. There are still a lot of people who need a break from hurricanes–people who still haven’t gotten even close to being back to normal yet.

Katrina, one year later

Well, here we are, one year after being nuked.

I got lucky–extremely lucky. I only lost a bunch of shingles from the roof, which was such minor damage that exactly one year later, as I write this, I’m just now getting shingles delivered to replace the roof. (That’s only because I never bothered to file the claim until a couple weeks ago, not because the insurance company was slow.) Obviously you know most people didn’t get so “lucky,” although I guess that’s kind of subjective. Plenty of people in Mississippi and Louisiana feel far more blessed just to be alive, and to have not lost everything.

Seawitch has been photographing and writing about Katrina from Gulfport, MS for the last year. She writes today about it,

My eyes continually seek the familiar and fail in its endeavors. Even away from the beach, the familiar has changed. Buildings and homes are gone and replaced with either trailers or just slabs. Trees which one shaded roads and homes are gone.

It’s incredible how much of people’s lives has vanished. The house in Pascagoula that my mother grew up in, and where I spent summers growing up, is gone. Nothing left, not even debris was left behind. When my mother went there after the storm, she couldn’t even find where she spent her whole life until she went to college, because everything on the beach in Pascagoula was gone. I have deep roots in the Biloxi/Gulfport area, but I was never as familiar with the area as she was. Still, there’s no way to not feel loss.

Anyway, enough from me. Seawitch is far more eloquent than I am in writing about it–she lives virtually at ground zero and has seen infinitely more than I have. I’m putting a video she made about six months ago below the break, but she’s got a new one in her post too.

Also see The American Princess; she was just in New Orleans two weeks ago and shares her thoughts. It is a MUST-READ!

The National Guard mission in NOLA that you didn’t know about

You heard about the thousands of dead bodies, the cannibalism, the gang-rapes in the Superdome, but did you hear about one of the largest missions performed by the National Guard…in history?

From the Dome, the Louisiana Guard’s main command ran at least 2,500 troops who rode out the storm inside the city, a dozen emergency shelters, 200-plus boats, dozens of high-water vehicles, 150 helicopters, and a triage and medical center that handled up to 5,000 patients (and delivered 7 babies). The Guard command headquarters also coordinated efforts of the police, firefighters and scores of volunteers after the storm knocked out local radio, as well as other regular military and other state Guard units.

Jack Harrison, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Virginia, cited “10,244 sorties flown, 88,181 passengers moved, 18,834 cargo tons hauled, 17,411 saves” by air. Unlike the politicians, they had a working chain of command that commandeered more relief aid from other Guard units outside the state. From day one.

Folks, I’m on the inside on this story in so many ways, and even I didn’t know it was this big of an operation from the military. And the whole thing is just so dumbfounding, I couldn’t believe it my own self - it’s a must-read. It’ll make you shake your head at how absolutely none of this has been covered by anybody, not even FOX News (the bastion of ultra-right-wing extremism).

Hmm…maybe we should tell Chris Matthews about this, he’s got the desired right-wing bias…

From WILLisms

And what has Bush done?

He’s done NOTHING.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it expects a busy hurricane season in the United States this year. The U.S. government agency’s predictions were released in its 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook.

Where are the water trucks? Where are the National Guardsmen? Emergency generators ?The schoolbuses? How can this have happened AGAIN?

Bush is probably playing farking golf with his friends from Big Oil™ while Americans are DYING. Dying in our own streets, as those we slaughter in the quest for black gold are dying on the streets of Baghdad. A catastrophe of monumental proportions, an epic disaster for humankind, and for what?

This Presidency is absolutely rotten to the core, and detached from reality - Chimpy McBushi’iteler and his cronies watch idly as thousands are drowned in their homes, so he can AGAIN award a no-bid clean-up contract to Halliburton. A supine media sits on its hands, and fails to bring these criminals to justice! Administration-toady Helen Thomas lobs softballs at Tony Snow as innocent Americans live their last moments in a salty, windy, watery terror. History has not witnessed this level of callous indifference to loss of human life since 1980 through 1992.

The time for action is now. Impeachment proceedings should start immediately - Russ Feingold, your hour is upon us. Write to your congressperson and DEMAND they act in support of Senator Feingold NOW, in the wake of this scandalous and avoidable human tragedy.

Tags: Hurricanes, FEMA, Katrina, Rita, New Orleans, Halliburton, Hurricane Clean Up, Disaster, Hurricane Season, Impeachment, Feingold, MoveOn.org

Ray Nagin’s head is really shiny

Don’t you think?

Tags: Ray Nagin, New Orleans, Katrina, Shiny Head, Racist Asshole, Chocolate City

Michael Brown: the stinky public fart

Michael Brown
Wow, what an asshat!

It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault! What do you want me to do, I’m just a simple caveman! Nobody told me! Secretary Chertoff ignored me! Those, those emails, they were not my fault! You’re reading them wrong! Everyone else did everything wrong EXCEPT ME! Quit picking on me!

OK, he didn’t say THAT, but it’s basically the same bottom line. It’s like listening to a teenager making excuses and not taking responsibility for missing curfew or something.

DUDE, settle down! A little defensive, are we?

He’s going to be embarrassed by this little performance. I’m just talking about what I’m watching on Fox News right now–there’s nothing on the internets yet about his tantrum with Senator Coleman, but damn. Michael Brown. What a freakin’ loser.

I think I’m going to take a nap, because this is embarrassing to watch. It’s like when someone farts in public, the polite thing to do is ignore it and walk out of range, not make a point of calling attention to it with, “hey, who shi’ite their pants?!?” He’s the stinky fart. I’ll just pretend I didn’t notice this for now, or else I might have to start throwing things at the TV. This guy is a real piece of work.

OMFG…this is pathetic: I succeeded in Florida and in the Space Shuttle disaster, but not this time and it was ALL the fault of DHS!!! I am infallible! Pitiful.
And Senator Lautenberg, saying he’s a “designated scapegoat?” Come ON. “Human beings make mistakes.” Yeah. Poor widdle baby.

How DID this bunghole get that job, anyway?

Republican Hypocrites and Military Cuts

It seems that the evil Republicans are up to their nefariousness again, gutting the military budget to pay for social programs. Yeah, you heard me! Because, you know, them Rupilicans is hipocrates.

Good ole’ Fred tries to point out how GOP lawmakers propose cuts to offset Katrina costs. He points out the heartlessness of the cruel Republicans and how this “is typical of a party that praises the military on one hand and turns around and kicks service members in the teeth when ever they get the chance.” I read the same thing he read, and I don’t get the same impression.

You see, on first glance, it appears that some of the proposed cuts would be harmful to military and it’s families. Problem is, these are recommendations made in the Clinton era, but could never get passed because they would decrease dependence on government. Remember, you’ve been trained to think that lowering benefits is always a bad thing - that couldn’t be further from the truth. Let’s look at these, shall we?

Service members would be offered cash if they are willing to accept reduced health care benefits for their families. “The less comprehensive plan would encourage individuals to be more cost-conscious when purchasing health care products by including deductibles, co-payments and a maximum annual out-of-pocket expenditure limit,” according to a written explanation provided by the study group. Reduced health care benefits could save $2.4 billion over 10 years.

Wasteful. Unbelievable. Giving service members NOT to go into sick call for every tiny problem? Insane.

True story: do you know what the #1 force divider is in the combat area? Accidents. People dropping hammers, tripping on work sites, cutting themselves with sharp objects. The news reports a grand total of the people killed in the combat zone, and the ones killed by IEDs, but have you ever heard anybody getting hit by a truck? Don’t think so.

Here’s the dirty little secret: having a more responsible system would not only save money, but teach the soldiers “how to fish,” if you will. If you’ve never had the chance to see what a Health Savings Account is, you are missing out. This is the best thing we could possibly do for health care in America, and the military wants to be on the bleeding edge, right where they always are.

The three separate military exchange systems could be consolidated, saving up to $1.9 billion over 10 years, the study group says. The Army and Air Force share an exchange system, AAFES, while the Navy and Marine Corps have their own systems…

There was a time when the best deal in town was the PX. But thanks to eeeeeevil Wal-Mart and the Karl Rovian capatilism machine, the prices off-post/base are as low or lower, and the PX/BX/Navy systems aren’t making the money they need to for the projects they fund.

For those of you who don’t know, the Exchange systems aren’t there to make a profit for themselves, they are there to provide Morale, Welfare, and Recreation funds for the residents of the bases and posts in which they reside. However, those profits for MWR are negatively influenced by the three different systems. Simplification of the system and reducing the bureaucracy sounds like a good idea to me. And yes…that’s a Republican concept if I’ve ever heard one.

The stateside system of elementary and secondary schools for military family members could be closed, saving $788 million over 10 years, the study says.

“This provision would phase out these domestic schools over time and shift these military children into the local public school systems,” the study group says.

The Pentagon also has been studying this idea, but has faced strong opposition from parents of children attending the schools because public schools are seen as offering lower-quality education.

Emphasis mine. I lived in Ft. ~~Useless~~ Eustis back in 1999, and I remember, as I ran my 6 miles everyday, how the kids would come home in them nice buses. And Ft. Eustis isn’t that big of a post, nestled right outside of Newport News. When I went to my off-post housing, I would often drive down a few blocks over to see the high school there, the one with the giant banner that read, “HOME OF MICHAEL VICK.” I honestly wondered if the kids on post went to the schools I’d driven past on post, or if they were going to that school, not 2 miles away.

But, and I’m no expert in this, wouldn’t it be just fine to put the military kids in with the other kids? I don’t see how this could be a problem. Oh, there will be fights, and upset military families who demand the teachers actually teach, but I think that’s a universal problem.

Look, if you think that there’s not pork in the military, you are sorely mistaken. It has more of a fight to get it’s job done on the battlefield, and the benefits are woefully underwhelming. But to say that a reduction in operating expenses through simple cost-cutting measures shows a lack of intellectual honesty.

NOTE: these cuts are in social programs, and won’t affect the military’s ability to perform its mission.

Katrina cheaters

I’ve got a semi-looting Katrina story for you, courtesy of my sister. This just pisses me off.

My sister has a nanny/housekeeper (it must be nice) whom I’ll call Mary. Mary does a wonderful job with my nieces, and they clearly adore her. Mary has her faults, though, like all of us…

Before Katrina hit, my sister & crew evacuated and came back a week later. Mary stayed in Mobile; not because she couldn’t leave, she just didn’t want to. Meanwhile, my sister offered her own house to her while they were gone since they have a generator which can power the A/C and the refrigerator. Anyway, Sister & crew came back on the Saturday after the hurricane, and Mary was normally scheduled to return to work on Monday. Mary chose not to, saying she wanted to take that week as a vacation.

Fast forward: Mary files for–and GETS–FEMA assistance because she was “unable to work” for TWO WEEKS. Not even just the week when Sister was gone, the other week when Mary was “on vacation,” and tells my sister she should do it too (yeah, right). Mary lives in public housing, but drives a brand-spanking new VW Passat–which she also asked for and got a payment deferral due to the hurricane (this despite the FEMA aid). Most sickening–when my sister paid her last time, she said, “Woohoo! I got more martini money!” (Or maybe money for a new Louis Vuitton handbag?) This right after bragging about ripping off FEMA! And WTF, doesn’t FEMA bother to find out if it’s even a legitimate claim?

People make me farking sick. Meanwhile, one of my mother’s friends is staying with my parents because her home is Pascagoula was trashed, and she’s lost her job because basically, the place is GONE. I might add that she’s also slightly disabled. You think she’s going around looking for ways to game the system, even though she really COULD use the help? HELL NO.

Don’t tell ME there isn’t enough federal help for hurricane victims, when I hear farked-up shi’ite like this.

Katrina Aid Up Close

Lance from Red State Rant went last week from Atlanta down to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to go help out his friends and others there:

Sometimes you just have to go. My neighbor was born and raised in Bay St Louis Mississippi. Katrina devastated the homestead that had once housed her 7 brothers and sisters two weeks ago. When the all clear was given to go back in her husband and I made the trek out of Atlanta and to the most disturbing scene I have ever witnessed. We arrived last Wed at 9:00 AM and went through Waveland to get to Bay St Louis. Waveland is the small town that every journalist has broadcast from in MS it is where the eye wall came through but as I learned pretty quickly it wasn’t the scene of the most devastation. That was Bay St Louis; it received the unmerciful storm surge. I’ve documented the trip in some of the pictures below.

Not just pictures–a detailed account of what he saw is there, too. He also notes that which I’ve been hearing from others (including my mother, who has been going back and forth to Pascagoula to help a friend):

The churches are so much more nimble and agile at helping the community. There is no bureaucracy involved, no layers and layers of paperwork. Just food for the hungry and water for the thirsty and a kind prayer for everyone who passed through the door.

GO READ IT.

[FYI: I'll have my mother's pictures from Pascagoula up in the next couple of days, too. I'll probably be going there myself soon, as well.]

Writer’s Block + Trackbacks + Pr0n! Oh my!

Got writer’s block? Could this be the cure? :wink:

I think I just need to go back to sleep for today’s episode of writer’s block, but maybe it’ll work for you. I’m a crabby bitch today thanks to a hateful nightmare about my ex-husband and I need to purge my brain with a nap. Let’s just make this an open trackback post in the meantime, OK?

If you have something you’d like others to read, link to this post, and send a trackback. If you use Blogger or something else that doesn’t send trackbacks, use Kalsey’s Simpletracks form. Your link will show up below, in the post (and count toward your ecosystem stats, if you care).

As always, trackbacks without a link to this post in yours will be deleted! For more information about trackbacks, see Harvey’s primer on the subject.

More trackbacks: OTB, basil, Cafe Oregano…

UPDATE:

Feisty’s suggestion

Jeff Harrell has a nice fundraiser

exploitation

self-exploitation that IS for Katrina victims

Feisty

Now, click!

Trail of Idiocy, not Tears

There’s a story going around about a group of a few hundred people who tried to leave New Orleans after the hurricane by pooling their money (to the tune of $25,000) to get buses to get them out of there, but the buses were supposedly commandeered by local authorities before they got to them, and then the people weren’t allowed to leave New Orleans. Read what Michelle Malkin has on this. She quotes Mark in Mexico, who said:

The story is a modern Trail of Tears and will leave you speechless.

No offense, Mark, bit I couldn’t disagree more. More like a Trail of Idiocy.

Here’s my gripe. I read the story, and all I heard was bitch, bitch, bitch. You know what? I say TOUGH. If these people had the money to 1) stay in hotels in the French Quarter (which is where they supposedly came from), and 2) cough up $45 apiece for the buses, then what’s their excuse for not evacuating before the hurricane struck?

Don’t these people feel the least bit responsible for their own stupid decisions? All they can do is bitch that no one took good enough care of them? Uh, pardon my insensitivity, but TOUGH. IF this story is true (which I seriously doubt, anyway), then those people decided they could handle themselves no matter what happened. Worse, they had children with them and stayed! Furthermore, if these people were so tough that they could choose to “ride out the storm,” maybe they were passed over by rescuers in favor of people in more imminent danger.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: any parent who has the means to evacuate and chooses NOT to when faced with disaster should be charged with criminal child endangerment. I have LESS than zero sympathy for them. For the children, yes. For the adults–hell NO. I just hope they’ve learned their lesson.

Stupid assholes. Here’s something to think about: Pretend you work in a building like the World Trade Center, say, “the XYZ Center,” on September 31, 2005 (fake date, I don’t want to jinx anything). The government announces that there is an 80% chance that in two days, some Islamofascist terrorists are going to crash planes into your building and turn it into rubble. Let’s just assume for this scenario that you don’t get paid for days you don’t show up, but you can afford to take the day off. Toss in the fact that your kids go to day care in the same building. My question: Do you and the kids go to work and daycare at the XYZ Center on September 33, 2005, despite the warnings? Or do you say, “eh, I can handle it.”

Can someone please tell me what’s the damn difference between that scenario and what these mental midgets did in New Orleans? What’s the difference between the New Orleans people who COULD evacuate before a Category 5 hurricane (with their children, especially!) and Russian Roulette?

Apparently some have taken this as more proof of state and local bureaucratic bungling. Sorry, I don’t read the story it that way. First of all, everyone knows how FUBAR the NOPD is in the first place. Secondly, all I see is an “eyewitness account” by two people who chose to take their chances, and then expected someone else to fix their mistakes (note that the two writers are EMTs, for crying out loud!), and want to bitch when it doesn’t go the way they had planned. I smell a rat–they’re either liars, they have an agenda, or they’re just yet another couple of sheep in sheepdog’s clothing.

I never, ever thought I’d use a Kos line, but “Screw ‘em.”

Exploiting Hurricane Relief

Let me toss out a hypothetical proposal:

Why don’t you click my Amazon Honor System or PayPal tip jar, so I can continue to serve readers in the hurricane-devastated areas with my writing, OK? They’re so needy, and I want to be able to continue blogging FOR THEM. Oh yeah, the rest of you, too, but especially for them. I won’t give that money to the hurricane victims or buy anything with it for them, but I want you to donate to me BECAUSE there ARE hurricane victims who read me. And I have server/bandwidth charges associated with serving them, y’know.

What? Did I just hear someone say that idea is disgusting, and absolutely beyond redemption?

Ok, how about this (again, hypothetical): donate to the NRA because there are gun-owners who rely on the services of the NRA in the hurricane-devastated region? No? Bad way to ask for donations?

Then how the f’n hell does Planned Parenthood get a free pass for doing exactly what I described? From the PP site:

Support Planned Parenthood and their patients during this time of great need. By clicking here, 100% of your tax-deductible contribution will go directly to helping Planned Parenthood affiliates and health centers in this region serve women and families who have nowhere else to turn.

Planned Parenthood clinics in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and in other affected areas are doing everything possible to attend to the needs of patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Women and families escaped the storm with their lives, leaving behind birth control and other items critical to their well-being. Those desperate for care are rushing to their nearest health center to get the care and treatment they need. Despite the horrific events of the past few days, affiliates and health centers in this region are determined to serve all those that come through the door. Click here to donate to Planned Parenthood’s Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Shameless. Scandalous. Sickening.

[H/T: Choose Life, via basil's Covered Dish Special]

:arrow: UPDATE: See that trackback below from MacStansbury? You think this Planned Parenthood business is sick? Click that trackback link or click here, ’cause some criminally stupid and greedy hippies need your money too.

We need to have more tools and software to be truely [sic] effective.

NEEDS:
(5) Apple iMac G5 Computer 20” Monitor = $3,000 each
(5) 500 Gigabyte Firewire Harddrive= $500 each
(5) Canon XL2Digital Video Camera = $4,500 each
(2) Digital Projector (3000 lumens) =$1,000 each
(5) Apple iPods with recording = $600 each

Monthly Satellite Access and Website Hosting Fee = $200 pr/mo

Donations for our multi media equipment will support refugees, volunteers, Red Cross, staff, press, keep in touch through via email, web, blogs, and teleconferencing.

I’m really having a hard time keeping this post profanity-free, y’all. Use your imagination. You know I’m cussing like a drunken biker right now, but because many of my pro-life allies might not appreciate it, I’m restraining myself. Grrrrrrrrrrrr…..

Katrina Aid Link Dump

Michele Catalano has the Kids of Katrina school supplies drive. I LOVE this idea–there are so many people who have evacuated to Texas and Baton Rouge without anything, and you know people in shelters won’t be able to go out and get their kids school supplies right now. Michele says:

I will be collecting school supplies from my fellow employees and my neighbors to send to Houston and Baton Rouge. Shipping will be supplied by uship.com.

I have people on the ground in both Houston and Baton Rouge who will accept the delivery and get them to the schools where they are needed the most.

My daughter is getting a “new kid” from New Orleans in her first grade class on Monday. Those kids of Katrina are in new schools, and they need our help.