New Orleans News Link

I'm supposed to be drafting my first fantasy football team today. Somehow, my heart isn't in it...

This is an excellent link to the New Orleans Times-Picayune journalists' breaking news weblog. It really will open your eyes if you live anywhere that depends on the "national media" coverage of Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/mtlogs/
nola_tporleans/archives/2005_09.html#076771

I know my opinions of the people of the city and disaster relief have changed since I found this blog. I still don't understand why hungry desperate people would want to burden themselves with big electronic equipment or burn businesses and structures which would have been helpful to the economic development of the area. But the blog did show me that FEMA doesn't know its ass from a gopher hole and is headed by a clueless little man who will say anything to try to make his sh*t smell like anything but.

This really hit home when I went to work and they said 7 of our stores were shut down and that only 94 out of 300 employees had been accounted for (by the company). That's incredible. Less than 1/3. Of course I am certain that many more than that are alive and contacting corporate just isn't high on their priority list. It's really wierd when I stop to think that a week and a half ago, there were 300 people doing exactly what I do every day and in the space of a few hours' destruction it's all gone. The same could happen to any of us anywhere at any time.

I just hope everything turns out alright. We're thinking of taking a trip early next year, and I can't think of anyplace better than Mardi Gras in New Orleans, because they'll be needing the business by then.