(no subject)

Okay. I'm closing the poll (so to speak; you can't actually close it) and making an executive decision, if y'all are amenable to it. Here's why:

1. You can't edit a poll once it's created, and I totally forgot to put Habitat for Humanity, one of the best and least problematic charities of all, on the list.

2. By the time CafePress sends me the quarterly earnings, the need for emergency donations will have passed, but there will still be need. This is actually great, because we'll be sending money when other people have stopped. But the focus will be on feeding and housing the survivors by that point, not rescuing them.

3. Several of the charities I chose turned out to be problematic. (See this comment, among several others on that entry.)

3b. Especially the Red Cross. It was suggested, and I think this is an excellent idea, that if you do want to give to the Red Cross, go down to your local chapter and donate. Give blood, also. It sounds like your donation has more chance of going where it needs to go if you give locally. That, and you can give now, which we can't with the CafePress funds. You can always give directly at the website if you disagree with me on this one, by the way.

So here's my idea: I'm liking the sound of Second Harvest and Habitat for Humanity, which will focus on feeding and housing survivors, which is what they'll be doing when the CafePress money becomes available. No one has come up with any problems these charities have, financial, ideological or otherwise, and some have even said, "I've worked with them, and they're good people."

In addition to that: at this time, the Humane Society is actually leading the poll, so clearly there's a lot more support behind that one than I anticipated. Why don't we donate all the proceeds from any design referencing an animal (polar bear, horsybird, comedy sheep--hell, even werewolves) to them?

So: discuss. We have plenty of time to make a decision, but I'd feel more comfortable putting up products on the CafePress store if I could say, "Proceeds are definitely going to these charities." Rather than, you know, "Uh... we'll give 'em to someone. Promise!"

( More designs )

Have I linked to the Hunger Site yet today?

(no subject)

Okay, I have such a swamp of links that I'm going to spam you with a few separate entries by topic. This one is charity and aid.

Most people I'm talking to are overwhelmed with frustration that they can't do anything--not just donate, but physically go down to New Orleans and do anything. Let's face it, though--even if you and I drove down there, they wouldn't let us in. And even if we got in, we would (well, I know I would) not be much help. If you're trained in medical or rescue aid, that's one thing; but most of us aren't, and would only get sick, injured, and/or in the way. Now, when the city is finally drained and Habitat for Humanity goes down there to rebuild--yeah, that's when you can go down and help. But right now, the most helpful thing you can do is 1) donate money and 2) keep yourself informed in terms of all sides of the story. (You'll see what I mean in the next entry.) We're just going to have to be keyboard warriors for now.

anatsuno, bringer of many links this weekend:

People can now also donate time online to help gather and consolidate missing persons / found persons messages from all over the place.

A different kind of help you can donate to.

Some people are writing about NOLA reconstruction.

fandom_charity is listing fan writers' and artists' offers and requests--people who will donate in return for a certain fic, or writers who will write a certain pairing in return for a donation, and so on.

I've lost the name of the poster who brought me this, but it's another good Red Cross donation option: "Barry and the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope have both agreed: You donate $1.00… Barry will match your $1.00… and the Manilow Fund will match another $1.00…. so your one dollar becomes $3.00."

keever: "An alternative for non-monetary Red Cross donations: airline frequent flier miles, which they use to get relief workers to disaster sites."

anne_jumps: "Famous World O' Crap commenter Anntichrist S. Coulter (not her real name) is personally taking goods to shelters in the area using the donations she receives via Paypal, etc."

JournalFen: Something Awful raises $20,000 for the Red Cross; PayPal takes it away.

I think this got buried under a cut in a previous entry, but if you've been curious to try Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab oils, this season's Limited Edition blends will benefit the Red Cross and Katrina victims. Unfortunately you can't get samples of LEs, so it is $16 for a 5 ml bottle (and since this is very concentrated oil, that's a lot, trust me). The Lab's blends are often very complex and will change on your skin while you wear them; while they will differ on each person due to body chemistry, when they say "crackling leaves," that is actually what you will smell. (I have a decant of Samhain 2004, and yes, it's exactly as advertised.) Sometimes almost bizarrely true to life, BPAL oils are an experience in themselves. ( This season's LEs )

potatofishy:

Hey Cleo. I live in West Virginia, and a whole bunch of the stereotypes are true--many people have bad grammar, bad mullets, bad teeth--but here's a great one: West Virginians are kindly, welcoming people with big hearts who just want to help. Our governor, Joe Manchin, just issued an open invitation to NOLA refugees to come stay here. They're being flown up on military transports and housed in a base, where they'll go through a sort of triage and get plenty of food, water, clothes, and hot showers. They first wave of people is coming now--about 80. Our local news says they expect maybe 500, all told. That's not many of the thousands and thousands displaced--but it was enough to make me cry (I'm a big baby). As far as I've heard, Manchin's the first governor of a state not immediately in the area to open it up like this. I hope more follow.

I got most of this from my local news; I couldn't really find an online news resource. I did manage to find Manchin's statement, though.

My favorite part? Manchin described WV as a big family. Even though I badmouth you all day long for having no cities and no culture, I love you, West Virginia.

West Virginia is, by the way, one of the only safe places in this country to live.

(no subject)

Entry 2: Everything else I've got at the moment. God, I need to go do some more designs, or watch Rome or something, for my own sanity. It's getting bad out there.

la_sonnambula: "I had a vague notion that the government can get commercial airlines to help and wondered why civilian airplanes couldn't airlift people out of New Orleans. The Civil Reserve Air Fleet, for reasons I don't know, is not deployed. Instead, late Thursday afternoon Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson asked James C. May, president of the trade group Air Transport Association whether the airlines could fly people out of NOLA. Operation Air Care was launched and the first mercy flight left for New Orleans at 8 A.M. Friday morning. Twelve airlines, including Air Canada are donating their planes and crew to the relief effort. FEMA will reimburse them for the jet fuel. Cargo airlines like FedEx and UPS are also helping."

carlanime: "Speaking of cronyism, have you linked to anything about FEMA director George Brown's qualifications yet?"

sigma7: "And more links, if you're so interested....

Journalists in Baton Rouge need places to crash. And some journos in the area are missing.

Wisconsin paper says don't use "looting" (third letter down).
N'awlins paper still printing. Damn.

AP weighs in on the "looting"/"taking" wank.

Coach of the U of N'awlins accuses other schools of trying to "loot" his players. Insert wank joke here...."

Quick links:

If you read nothing else, read this link. How "a shot was fired" turned into "Snipers are shooting at helicopters!" ("We're controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and none of them reported being fired on," she said, adding that the FAA was in contact with the military as well as civilian aircraft. )

Doors never closed at this Big Easy bar.

Mississippians' Suffering Overshadowed.

Help the Internet Archive archive blog coverage of Katrina.

White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials.

U.S. Asks EU, NATO for Hurricane Aid.

A Navy hospital ship has been sitting for a week off the coast of New Orleans, waiting for FEMA to allow them to help.

A list of links about offers of aid that have been or still are being delayed or turned down.

Chertoff: Feds in Control of New Orleans. Chertoff is the one, I might add, who said FEMA had no idea there was a major situation at the convention center, at which point Ted Koppel said, flabbergasted, "Do you not watch TV at all? Do you not listen to the radio?"

Ann Coulter in all her nonsensical glory: "And in the same way the rest of the country ran to support New York, I'm waiting to see if New Yorkers will run to support the suffering victims of Katrina. I just think New Yorkers think of themselves as their own country. Of course, New York firefighters, they're Americans."

"I don't care if I get blamed for it," Gibson said, "as long as I saved my people." 

Anne Rice: "Do You Know What It Means to Lose New Orleans?"

Another viewpoint from NO: now officially the site of America's greatest shame. "The Cavalry can't get past FEMA": ( Son? Is somebody coming? And she drowned Friday night )

krickets: The hurricane and the poor of New Orleans - a timeline  ( Did I forget to mention that the city only ordered an evacuation AFTER the city had closed the buses and trains that could lead people out to safety? )

More AP articles. Be careful--I'm kind of desensitized to the horror after collecting these articles for so many days now, but the articles are getting more and more grisly as we go, and there's discussion of suicide in at least two of the articles. The last two, I think.

( We saw my mother's house on the television with just the roof showing so we know she has lost it )

( We are still in the middle of an emergency )

( New Orleans emergency service agencies have had to deal with some suicides among their ranks )

( People been all their life. They don't know nothing else )