I’ve just heard the St. Bernard Parish President Henry “Junior” Rodriguez talk about the situation they’ve had to deal with over the past 10 days. One of the hardest-hit areas in New Orleans has just seen FEMA for the first time today. He couldn’t believe that they haven’t had federal help, but that 50 rescue workers from Canada have been there for days and helped rescue and evacuate more than 8000 people from the parish.

Update - found a Reuters article with details.

A multitude of issues are to blame for the fact that thousands of suffering people are still clinging to rooftops awaiting rescue five days after being stranded there, that tens of thousands of people are living in danger in areas covered in garbage and feces, with little or no access to food, water, showers, clean clothes and all the rest. Those things have become luxuries. There are babies who have been wearing the same diaper fo several days, and this is the richest, most powerful nation in the world?

It’s sickening. Especially since authorities on many levels who are speaking from the ground of the disaster have routinely REFUSED help offered by private citizens and even countries.

Two days ago I watched a press conference with Mike Brown, who is directing FEMA in New Orleans. When asked if the US would be accepting foreign aid to assist with the disaster, his response was: No, if we need it we’ll ask for it, and we won’t because we’re more than capable to take care of our own. I thought his attitude at the time was ridiculous, and now even moreso. He mentioned he had experience directing relief efforts in Asia after the tsunami and he knew from experience what needed to be done. Today, however, the Boston Herald has a story claiming Brown was unqualified for the FEMA job, and was asked to resign from his last job - running horse shows - because there were failures in his supervision.

A private company called Innovative Emergency Management (IEM, Inc.) was responsible for the New Orleans hurricane disaster plan. You will find this article very interesting as it seems IEM has done absolutely noting in this situation and is, in effect, shirking their responsibility.

I also made a comment on my last post that, if you are not aware by now, the Red Cross has been denied access to the city of New Orleans where their help has been most needed for days.

Also, wouldn’t you think people who moved from the filthy Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston might want a clean change of clothes? Apparently, according to this first-hand account (via BB), there are few or no visible officials at that shelter and clothing donations were refused.

And when will there be an official list naming who is housed in which shelters? Some kind of registration process is crucial so families can be reunited. –I just heard Red Cross has now set up a network for this.

I’ve been hoping that people who need it are somehow gaining access to support information and to the internet to connect with FREE HOUSING being offered by individuals both on Craigslist as I mentioned yesterday, and now at hurricanehousing.org where more than 40,000 beds are being offered.

I visited New Orleans four years ago and hope/d to return again sometime in the near future. It was an unforgettable experience for many reasons. One memory that sticks out in my mind is sitting on a 2nd floor patio on Bourbon Street that was attached to the building at nearly a 45-degree angle - a sign of how the buildings there responded to the weather, humidity and to existing so close to the edge of sea level. New Orleans seemed like a hidden world saturated with colourful culture, art, music and free spirits. And you could physically feel its history, unlike most places I have visited.

Now that its people are suffering their worst nightmare, its also encouraging to see how individuals throughout the country are reaching out to offer help however they can. Thousands are offering FREE rooms and homes to people who are displaced here on Craigslist, so at least there’s hope for people to get back on their feet and start again in different locations.

Many universities, including Syracuse, are taking in students who were supposed to begin classes at Tulane this week. Also I read that Noah’s Wish, an animal welfare organization, has sent 100 volunteers to New Orleans to rescue suffering and displaced pets.

Lots of people have made donations to Red Cross already, and fundraising TV telethons (complete with celebrities!) are imminent. Here’s one great way to donate your cash - at this Crafters United / Esty shop you can purchase some amazing handmade items that have been donated by crafters, and all proceeds go to Red Cross hurricane relief fund. Check it out:

Found out today via Boing Boing that the Beastie Boys have released acapella tracks on their site for anyone to download and remix for non-commercial fun.

I downloaded Root Down and did a clip with the only instrumental track I had on my computer - an 80s song by Trans-X. It’s only a 1-minute clip called Droppin Science (MP3), dedicated to Matt of course… so check it check it out!

Oh and people are sharing their mixes on the Beastie Boys forum here.

Last night I stepped out with my camera and came upon this vigil in DeWitt Park, one of over 1600 held last night across the country in support of Cindy Sheehan. For those who don’t know the park, aside from it being the central park in downtown, it is also home to Ithaca’s war memorials. One of the speakers at the vigil repeated that ‘Bush cannot vacation in peace while we are fighting his war’.

This past Sunday Matt and I enjoyed a walk from downtown up to Cornell campus and around Beebe Lake. The sky was deep blue and that day full of beautiful cloud formations - which makes for great photos. And it’s been awhile since I added a new photo album so here it is, Sunday Walk in Ithaca. An afternoon of photos featuring an array of critters, some abstracts and campus highlights. Check it out…

Our porch has been taken over by these lovely insects:

They’re wingspan is approximately 2 inches across. I had no idea what they were, so referred to the Bug Guide where they identified them as Xenox Tigrinus - a type of ‘bee fly’ that feeds on bee larvae. They “hover and dart, rather like syrphid flies. Often seen about flowers.”

This 20 Questions game is a bit of a mind-bender. There’s a handheld version you can buy that’s classified ‘Age 8+’ but it’s a fun diversion for grown-ups too. Have at er - see if this game can ‘read your mind.’

* 15-20 people chattering about outside the church doors
* 7-8 guys sitting in and under a large tree
* 5 people sprawled on the lawn smoking a joint
* 2 guys practicing juggling with pins

The other day I looked up The Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies to answer a question about this photo - Are there monks in Ithaca?

Yes, there are! They have a very colourful house in downtown Ithaca, and it’s not that uncommon to see monks out and about. They have plans to build a much larger monastery here in the near future.

While doing a wee bit of Ithaca+Monks research I came across this article Kurt Cobain’s Final Tour from Esquire Magazine’s Feb 96 issue.

I suppose locals who were around in 1996 could tell us more tales about Courtney, who made a pilgrimage to the Namgyal Monastery with Kurt’s ashes:

Cobain was first brought to Ithaca in the summer by his widow, Courtney Love, and packed with her wedding dress in a small knapsack shaped like a teddy bear. He’d been dead for three months, and Courtney, the bear, the dress, and the ashes had traveled cross-country twice before landing at this little monastery in the middle of nowhere.

Wow, there’s lots of dish about Ms. Love’s 2-week stay here… as well as a humorous description of Ithaca:

It’s a tolerant place, a college town where PH.D.’s from Cornell bag your groceries and stage poetry slams, a place with one trouser leg caught in a charming time warp, where it’s always 1970.

Possibility is high that some of Kurt’s ashes were spread around these parts. An interesting read.