Katrina Stuff

First off, if you haven't yet considered it, now is the time. Lots of charities are collecting money to assist our fellow Americans who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. I'm not going to recommend one, just that you go and take a look and pick one that looks good to you and do what you can. Here is a good spot to find a place to donate through.

Now that the business end of things is done....just a few random thoughts. I am wondering why this emergency wasn't planned for better. I don't have TV so haven't seen any live coverage of the situation, but even from the little reading on the net that I did before, during, and after the hurricane, it seems like there was a lot of warning that the storm was going to be extremely bad, that it was headed straight for a place that is below sea level, that the levees were not expected to hold up, and that economically a lot of the population was not going to have the option to leave.

So....WHY is it that so many thousands of people are sitting in New Orleans starving, dying of thirst and heat stroke, receiving no medication or health care, with criminals running rampant??? How can it be that this could go on? In America! In 2005! I mean, truly it seems like a thing that could not really happen in our country.

One of my husband's firemen stopped by our house today to say that he is being deployed via National Guard to go on down to New Orleans to try to keep the peace. He'll soon be packing an M16 and a 9mm, which I guess might be some sort of dream come true for a young guy with lots of testosterone.

There is an interesting blog written by a couple of reporters who stayed behind to report on katrina from the front lines. It's called Dancing With Katrina. You might want to check it out.

Also, I heard about this blog from the Big Yellow House. This young woman was on her way home from a mission trip when katrina swept away her home and town. Wow.

One other thing: Gun control. I suppose that advocates of not having guns might use the situation in New Orleans to make their point. I would just like to say that if I was stuck there right now, I would be mighty glad to have guns on hand. The criminals will always have theirs. I want the law abiding citizens to have theirs too!