The worst and perhaps most astounding aspect of the tragedy in the wake of Katrina is how much of the suffering and casualties have steemed from the continuing political and bureaucratic incompetence, indifference, and one can only assume, downright malovence going on. Some of this stuff will make your blood boil. I mean, the mind boggles.

• Sonic Youth: my wife and I last night at the astrodome – this first-hand account of the situation in Houston blew my mind:
  

  it looked like cops were turning away people who tried to drive in… we walked to the dome and asked arund about where to take these clothes only to be told by cops that they were not accepting donations. I thought that to be BULLSHIT… so I found a red cross worker and asked and she said if we took it into the dome someone would definitely use it. so we walked down the east ramp, into the saddest, most surreal scene I have ever witnessed in my life. we found a volunteerr who took the clothes we brought and told us how much they were appreciated and we went over and signed up to volunteer. First of all, the Red Cross is the ONLY organization doing anything remotely organized. they ahve NO federal help. NO national guards, NO military personnel, Nothing at all. they are stretched to the limit in every possble way. the federal government is screwing these people over

• Just to give you a sense of just how badly FEMA has f*cked up.
  

  (Sat Sept 3, 2:23PM) his is beyond my comprehension and after spending two frustrating days trying to just get someone to let us help we’ve FINNALLY been told we can conduct “renegade” boat rescues via the just concluded press conference that Gov. Blanco just held.

  Yes, read on to see how 500 volunteer rescure boats have been kept out by the police… What’s worse, this, or the police keeping refugees from leaving the Convention Center? (How can it be that reporters can roam freely at will but no food/water/supplies are being delivered?

• ‘This is criminal’: Malik Rahim reports from New Orleans
  

  People from Placquemine Parish were rescued on a ferry and dropped off on a dock near here. All day they were sitting on the dock in the hot sun with no food, no water. Many were in a daze; they’ve lost everything.

  They were all sitting there surrounded by armed guards. We asked the guards could we bring them water and food. My mother and all the other church ladies were cooking for them, and we have plenty of good water.

  But the guards said, “No. If you don’t have enough water and food for everybody, you can’t give anything.” Finally the people were hauled off on school buses from other parishes.

  (at least they got out)

• The Rebellion of the Talking Heads – and at least there’s some response from the media
  

  FEMA has been on the ground for four days, going into the fifth day. Why no massive airdrop of food and water? In Banda Aceh, in Indonesia, they got food dropped two days after the tsunami struck.

And for some venting:

• Unforgivable – I’m glad there are others are gathering these as well (this is stuff is beyond surreal)
  

  We are hearing similar stories from all quarters, over and over. It seems the response to the hurricane on the national scale was beyond incompetent, beyond indifferent, and somewhere approaching the line of … what, exactly? CrapMcFungled? Jackasstrophic? Neroesque?

• WE TOLD YOU SO – Ever wonder why New Yorkers detest George Bush?
• Privatizing FEMA for New Orleans? | MetaFilter
• Financial Times : Bush ‘crippled’ disaster relief + ‘turning point’ on opinion on Govt
• [UPDATED] Northern Command Unit READY – BUT WAITED on Bush Orders – has Katrina timeline
• Cast the wicked out | MetaFilter – your moment of zen

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