Random Katrina stuff.

I got the following articles from Andrew Sullivan's excellent blog:

From Slate :: How race shaped Bush's response to Katrina.

"Had the residents of New Orleans been white Republicans in a state that mattered politically, instead of poor blacks in city that didn't, Bush's response surely would have been different. Compare what happened when hurricanes Charley and Frances hit Florida in 2004. Though the damage from those storms was negligible in relation to Katrina's, the reaction from the White House was instinctive, rapid, and generous to the point of profligacy. Bush visited hurricane victims four times in six weeks and delivered relief checks personally. Michael Brown of FEMA, now widely regarded as an incompetent political hack, was so responsive that local officials praised the agency's performance."

From Halifax Live :: Canadians Arrived In New Orleans Five Days Before The U.S. Military.

They came all the way from fucking Vancouver and still beat FEMA and the National Guard.

From the Salt Lake Tribune :: Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA

"Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA."