Hurricane.. Katrine.. HELP THEM YOU IDIOTS!

Okay when you read this entrie's title.. who did you think of as the “idiots”?

FEMA? The Red Cross? The President? Congress? Or did you just think that I was another bitchy mal-content?

I really want to know.. please post who you thought of when you read it as a comment.. you can comment anonymously, so what’s the harm?


Actually I meant ALL OF US!
If you have done nothing.. please do something.. anything.. anything at all.. drop some spare change in an envelope and mail it to the Red Cross.. or if you are in a town like I am, you can drive, or walk to somewhere that they are taking contributions..
What have I done? Well I dropped a few bills in a collection at a radio remote.. that money goes to an organization that has high marks for it’s very , very low administrative costs. And I talked my employer into donating one of the products we manufacture to the Glenn Beck radio program to be auctioned off for Storm Aid.
I intend to keep dropping off things at our local salvation army, and I will make a donation through an affiliate program I have.. (not taking a commission check, but rather having it forwarded to the Red Cross)

There are a few other things I wish I could do, but do not know how to organize.. so with luck a reader here will know and will act.
After Hurricane Andrew, my family was left without reliable power for nearly 6 months, reliable phone service actually came first!, for a year everyone in south FL had sinus infections due to molds that were growing n all of the wet debris piles. I only lost a car, but members of my immediate family lost EVERYTHING! The federal government could not help due to a few strange circumstance surrounding the lease on the property my folks were living on, so we had to go without federal assistance. And guess what we made it, and in many cases came out of it ahead of people who waited on the government. (Insurance company also did not come through fully due to the lease problem)

Here is what these people will desperately need.. LP Gas Grills! And LP gas tanks, and canisters. With a grill you can cook, and you can boil water! Trust me, this is an absolute must! Everything is wet, and will be for a while, so campfires will not cut it, and in the cities will make things worse.. so please find a way to send a grill.. beg a grill company to send small gas grills to MS, LA, and AL.. now!!!!!
www.ducane.com/

www.weber.com/

www.bbqgalore.com/

www.fiestagasgrills.com/

www.broilmaster.com/

www.mobilegrills.com/


Boiling water is not as good as having fresh tap water, but it will be better than drinking the raw water that is everywhere. Right now.. if you get thirsty enough you will drink that raw water.. trust me, do not make anyone have to.

Food, they need food, and the best food would be MRE’s or meal ready to eat, I believe the government calls them. MREs can be air lifted in.
Canned / bagged foods, there is no refrigeration now for many people, they need to be able to open a can, and eat.

Camps. The government can stet up tent camps in ballparks, and other dry outdoor areas, and needs to. I remember a ball park in Homested FL, that was converted into a tent city, it was dirty and not the best place to be, but it was safe from gangs and looters.

It is nice of the people of Houston to give up the Astro Dome, but a camp is easier and I am sure that there is plenty of flat dry land between New Orleans and Houston that would do. If need be the government under the auspices of FEMA can seize land for temporary use, and needs to. This land needs to be given back with due payment to the owner once this emergency is over. Once you get the evacuees into camps feeding and protecting them gets much easier. Land owners should be encouraged to get back home and start rebuilding anyway that they can. FEMA can offer to subsidize emergency building supplies, like sheet rock and OSB for roofs.
We lived with an OSB and tarp roof, a small generator, that we shared with other families on the block, a gas grill, and even improvised a gas water heater to take warm showers with, for months. These people can to, but they will need to stop blaming people for not taking care of them, and start taking care of each other first.

That’s my 2 cents.. so are you going to be an idiot? I hope not.

Now If I can figure out how, I wil post a poll.. should looters be shot on sight? (not food looters, we all looted food and cigarettes for a few days after Andrew.) But the ones with TVs and other peoples money and jewelry? Should the National Guard shoot them?