The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    wws's picture

    Time Out from Palin for Your Fellow Americans Who Need You

    By wws on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 9:09pm |

    ".....when some cars containing multiple families finally arrived at the head of the line, only then did they learn that each vehicle was limited to two bags of ice, one case of bottled water and a single 12-pack of ready-to-eat meals.

    "The rules are in place to make sure everybody gets at least something," said church pastor Sean Mooney. "It's not the church's limit; it's the FEMA rule. They don't want people hoarding up and then taking it out and selling it. This makes the distribution more equal."

    Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pledged on Sunday that his team was "working feverishly" to get the centers open, even as Mayor Bill White expressed concern over how long the process was taking.

    FEMA officials responded that setting up the centers was contingent on assurances that workers would be on hand to staff them.

    This morning, Houstonians Carlos Torres, 62, and his wife, Zenaida Carrizales, waited in the Greenspoint line for 90 minutes the thought of the wilting food in their powerless refrigerator foremost in their minds.

    Torres said the couple had searched the city in vain for a bag of ice."

    HEADS UP. FEMA doesn't get it, even now. The Red Cross, which does get it, is low on donations of funds. 

    This is not academic debate. People are hungry, thirsty, lonely and tired. And it's just beginning. What about tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow????

    Give what you can to the Red Cross, which unlike FEMA, knows how to distribute timely emergency aid. And save something for permanent relocation funds, because people get caught between a rock and a hard place, with no place to go because they do not have the money to get there.

    Do you think that the tidal surge that flooded a house knew enough to spare the lay firm, the office building that housed the homeowner's source of income????

    Connect the dots, please, and picture yourself with a flooded house and place of employment. 

    Thank you.




    Comments

    That would be "law firm" not "lay firm" except in the sense of Freudian slip. Never mind.
    The point is that hurricane survivors lose not only their houses, but also their sources of employment. How would you cope? Yes, you, personally, if overnight you had nowhere to live and nowhere to work? PLEASE connect the dots. People's futures depend on your ability to get the Big Picture.

    Thank you.


    by wwstaebler (not verified) on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 9:14pm

    Hey ww, that's a great reminder. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day politics of the election and almost impossible to avoid making it be the only thing that we give our energy to. But in the real world, the things that we do for each other, the kindnesses we show those who need it, the effort we make to help those teetering on the edge, are the things that define us, much more than who we vote for or how well we express a sentiment.

    Thanks for reminding me that fifty bucks to the Red Cross can help a lot more than 500 words about strategy. Passion can overwhelm compassion sometimes, and thanks for helping to keep the right one a priority.


    by msa3 (not verified) on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 9:43pm

    She won't ask, so I will. Please recommend this so that it can be seen, and because it's actually worthy of the mouse click.


    by barefooted (not verified) on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 9:43pm

    Thank you, dear friends, for seeing the Big Picture. It matters.


    by wwstaebler (not verified) on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 10:41pm

    Why am I not surprised to see all these names? I'm proud of you all! Rec'd and donated...


    by stillidealistic (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 2:39am

    Here's a Freudian Pass.


    by TheraP (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 12:11pm

    Hey folks,

    I gave this great post a DIGG reference.

    If you have some time, please visit this link:

    http://digg.com/politics/Time_Out_from_Politics_for_Ike_Victims_in_need

    and recommend it as well so the message reaches a few more eyes (and hopefully a few more hearts!)


    by Slouch (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 2:52pm

    Thanks for your help, Slouch. A family of four given 12 packaged meals is, in effect, given only enough food for one day! And FEMA is worried that people will stockpile and resell. Outrageous.


    by wwstaebler (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 5:08pm

    I'm not taking a timeout from McSame/Failin...but I will multi-task long enough to send some bucks to the Red Cross again. Rec'd.

    Thank you for the reminders. I gotta quit reading your posts...I always feel so self-absorbed and guilty afterwards. :-D


    by eastside93 (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 6:50pm

    Eastside93:
    Your contribution dollars are appreciated. But you have already donated $600 -- as I pointed out in two previous posts that were bumped into obscurity -- so you have nothing to feel guilty about. Would that more people would donate a fraction of what you so generously contributed. It takes all of us -- not just you. But thank you on behalf of all those who literally have nothing, overnight.


    by wwstaebler (not verified) on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 8:52pm