Katrina Rundown

Yahoo have released this statement on the black/white looted/found picture controversy (via). Who says blogging's a waste of time?

Pinko Feminist Hellcat provides some incisive analysis here, here and here. (via)

Looters have widely been condemned, but some on the ground see them as heroes. Heroes who can now get their brains blown out for their trouble.

Remember that story about the hospital being looted? Turns out it wasn't true (via). This seems to be a recurring theme; Brian Dominick suggests, in what is probably the best piece of analysis of the situation on the ground that I've read, that many of the stories coming out of the city are mere rumours or exaggerations.

Even the Times has had to admit that part of the reason the situation is so bad is that planners didn't care about the poor. (The headline which suggests that they were forgotten hardly agrees with the content of the article which makes it clear that they were aware of the problem and did nothing about it.)

Those of you wanting to donate might care to consider doing so through the American Friends Service Committee (as recommended by Doug Ireland), Liberal Bloggers for Hurricane Relief (endorsed by Juan Cole among others), the Red Cross or any of the huge range of organisations who'd greatly appreciate some of your money.

Update: You have *got* to hear this. The Mayor of New Orleans tells it like it is.