Back in black
I'm finally back online after several days of wedding craziness, and will be catching up with the flist to the best of my ability.
First off, though, I want to wish lillianmorgan, one of the sweetest people I've had the pleasure of meeting through LJ, a very happy and very belated birthday.
* * * * *
I don't have much to say about the Hurricane Katrina situation, largely because I am incandescent with rage at the federal response. I think it's a given that in a disaster as large and horrific as this, there will be problems, emergency services won't run completely smoothly, agencies won't coordinate the way they should in a perfect world, human error will surface as it does through everything. But there's human error and there's gross incompetence and criminal mismanagement, and what we're seeing here is the latter.
On top of the outrage I feel that untold numbers of people are suffering and dying because of the botched and ineffectual response, the huge number of mobilized resources that have been sitting waiting for FEMA cleareance to get in and help people, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting while people continued to die, I am frightened by the complete chaos in our national disaster preparedness. The difference between Katrina and a major terrorist strike at an urban center is only one of cause, since what's needed in the aftermath is largely the same--evacuation, temporary shelter, ability to house and feed and provide medical care for those who are displaced by the disaster. We had warning that Katrina was coming; we won't have warning if a terrorist attack happens, or, (more selfishly on my part) when the Big One hits a major California metropolitan area. Four years after 911, our disaster preparedness is a national disgrace--one that's being amply demonstrated with every dead body that floats unclaimed in the toxic lake that once was the great city of New Orleans, every baby or elderly person that has died days after the storm struck through FEMA's utter inability to pull it together, and the lack of civil order resulting from the fact that so many National Guard troops are now in Iraq. Just what the fuck has this administration been doing with four years and billions of dollars? Apparently nothing. If the test of a civilization is its ability to mobilize in a catastrophe, we have failed.
* * * * *
I've spent the weekend bouncing between two very different worlds. My best friend got married, and the ceremony was beautiful, and I don't think for a minute that a tragedy they have no control over should have cast a shadow over their long-planned wedding. The weather was sunny and bright and clear as only early-September Northern California weather can be. I wore my shiny blue dress, and did not fall walking down the (recently watered) grassy slope in my silver shoes, and neither did any of the other bridesmaids, though we all had bobble moments. The vows were lovely and egalitarian, the ceremony was spiritual without being religious--this is the kind of wedding ceremony Northern Californians excel at--and the reception was full of good drink and good cheer, the dinner full of warm toasts and good food. D.'s former fiancée, now wife, had her perfect fairytale wedding. The venue, Kohl Mansion, is a Victorian robber baron mansion with a big girls' school fastened to its rear quarters like an enormous bustle; when the bride was having her photos taken, classes were just getting out, and there were gaggles of young teenage girls slipping by the bridal party, whispering their congratulations and admiring the bride in her wedding dress and train and veil, in awe of the mysteries of adulthood.
And yet, the disaster in New Orleans continues. It's moving, spreading outward, but the evacuees will be in trouble for months to come. I heard on Thursday that my cousin had made it to Baton Rouge on Sunday night--I had figured he would, but was very relieved to hear confirmation. His mother, my ex-aunt, is housing him and several other family members in her small condo. Baton Rouge is a mess--phone lines impassable at most times, electricity spotty, population swelled double. My other cousin in Lake Charles--his wife is a Cajun born and bred, with a lot of family in the area--has three families staying with them. My parents have agreed to take overflow, but the big issue is--what will these people do? Will they be able to find jobs? Will they have any way of supporting themselves and getting back on their feet? What's going to happen to them once the proverbial dust settles? And this is with people who have resources!
I don't know what else to say. One could hope that help for the beleaguered areas is on the way, both short term and long term--but it hasn't been so far, and I don't know if I have any confidence in the situation to change.
First off, though, I want to wish lillianmorgan, one of the sweetest people I've had the pleasure of meeting through LJ, a very happy and very belated birthday.
* * * * *
I don't have much to say about the Hurricane Katrina situation, largely because I am incandescent with rage at the federal response. I think it's a given that in a disaster as large and horrific as this, there will be problems, emergency services won't run completely smoothly, agencies won't coordinate the way they should in a perfect world, human error will surface as it does through everything. But there's human error and there's gross incompetence and criminal mismanagement, and what we're seeing here is the latter.
On top of the outrage I feel that untold numbers of people are suffering and dying because of the botched and ineffectual response, the huge number of mobilized resources that have been sitting waiting for FEMA cleareance to get in and help people, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting while people continued to die, I am frightened by the complete chaos in our national disaster preparedness. The difference between Katrina and a major terrorist strike at an urban center is only one of cause, since what's needed in the aftermath is largely the same--evacuation, temporary shelter, ability to house and feed and provide medical care for those who are displaced by the disaster. We had warning that Katrina was coming; we won't have warning if a terrorist attack happens, or, (more selfishly on my part) when the Big One hits a major California metropolitan area. Four years after 911, our disaster preparedness is a national disgrace--one that's being amply demonstrated with every dead body that floats unclaimed in the toxic lake that once was the great city of New Orleans, every baby or elderly person that has died days after the storm struck through FEMA's utter inability to pull it together, and the lack of civil order resulting from the fact that so many National Guard troops are now in Iraq. Just what the fuck has this administration been doing with four years and billions of dollars? Apparently nothing. If the test of a civilization is its ability to mobilize in a catastrophe, we have failed.
* * * * *
I've spent the weekend bouncing between two very different worlds. My best friend got married, and the ceremony was beautiful, and I don't think for a minute that a tragedy they have no control over should have cast a shadow over their long-planned wedding. The weather was sunny and bright and clear as only early-September Northern California weather can be. I wore my shiny blue dress, and did not fall walking down the (recently watered) grassy slope in my silver shoes, and neither did any of the other bridesmaids, though we all had bobble moments. The vows were lovely and egalitarian, the ceremony was spiritual without being religious--this is the kind of wedding ceremony Northern Californians excel at--and the reception was full of good drink and good cheer, the dinner full of warm toasts and good food. D.'s former fiancée, now wife, had her perfect fairytale wedding. The venue, Kohl Mansion, is a Victorian robber baron mansion with a big girls' school fastened to its rear quarters like an enormous bustle; when the bride was having her photos taken, classes were just getting out, and there were gaggles of young teenage girls slipping by the bridal party, whispering their congratulations and admiring the bride in her wedding dress and train and veil, in awe of the mysteries of adulthood.
And yet, the disaster in New Orleans continues. It's moving, spreading outward, but the evacuees will be in trouble for months to come. I heard on Thursday that my cousin had made it to Baton Rouge on Sunday night--I had figured he would, but was very relieved to hear confirmation. His mother, my ex-aunt, is housing him and several other family members in her small condo. Baton Rouge is a mess--phone lines impassable at most times, electricity spotty, population swelled double. My other cousin in Lake Charles--his wife is a Cajun born and bred, with a lot of family in the area--has three families staying with them. My parents have agreed to take overflow, but the big issue is--what will these people do? Will they be able to find jobs? Will they have any way of supporting themselves and getting back on their feet? What's going to happen to them once the proverbial dust settles? And this is with people who have resources!
I don't know what else to say. One could hope that help for the beleaguered areas is on the way, both short term and long term--but it hasn't been so far, and I don't know if I have any confidence in the situation to change.