If you've overdosed on news, don't read this.

NOTE: This post is just a rant, me letting off steam, and does not bring up any original facts or opinions you won’t have heard or thought yourself if you’ve been paying attention to the news.

I am distracted/pissed off/heartbroken by the news coming out of New Orleans. The federal government (and possibly the state government?) should have been swifter in their response. And they still aren’t getting it done, although the most recent reports are getting a little more promising. It would seem the planning could have been better, as well as preparation outside of the area affected by the hurricane. The mayor of New Orleans today told the authorities “get off your asses.” Here’s a transcript of his entire press conference. He was obviously very frustrated and I can see why. The thing that was really blowing my mind today was someone from FEMA saying they weren’t aware that people were gathering at the Convention Center until Wednesday, when city officials had been instructing citizens to gather there since Monday or Tuesday.* (I cannot bring myself to repeat what is occurring there—you’ll have to read CNN if you have the stomach.) I sure read reports of the already hellish conditions in that building on Tuesday, so how could FEMA have their heads that far up their asses?! I hope in the months to come, data can reliably be gathered on this unholy clusterf**k in order to plan and prepare better for future natural disasters, because this is awful. We’re the richest and in many ways, the most powerful country in this world, and innocent people are being raped, shot, or just dying of heat exhaustion/thirst/hunger in New Orleans in the aftermath of a disaster whose potential devastation (both natural and man-made) had been specifically (and, for the most part, accurately) predicted for years before. Is it just that there’s no command structure there? One shocking figure in the earlier CNN article was that 4,200 National Guardsmen will arrive in the city on Friday and that will “quadruple the number of law enforcement personnel.” So right now there’s only about 1,000 law enforcement people there! Some of the New Orleans police have been drowned or shot, and some that haven’t been are starting to turn in their badges, according to one officer now in Baton Rouge after spending 60 hours straight on the job.

Obviously, I don’t know the whole story, but I have to believe we can do better!

I received emails this morning detailing campaigns to provide quilts for Hurricane Katrina victims later in the year, as they return to their homes. (I say later in the year because my reaction on reading the first line of the first email as “Omigod quilts?! It’s so hot down there right now!!!!”) Also, the American Quilt Society is matching donations by quilters to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund up to $10,000. I made a donation yesterday, so I emailed the information to the given address right away. If you are a quilter, comment to ask for the email address.

Hilary Duff is donating $250,000 and encourages fans to donate money and bring canned food to her concerts. I have mixed emotions about celebrities coordinating press releases with disaster-relief donations, but if it gets fans to open their wallets, I guess it’s a good thing.

I guess all we can do is donate, pray, and encourage our elected leaders to improve disaster relief, both now and in future.

*Not one hundred percent positive on the specific days—I can’t find the CNN article I read earlier this morning, so I can’t be sure.