10:49 a.m. - 2005-09-06
more hurricane commentary
I just can't stop talking and thinking about the situation down south. Twice, this morning, I have walked down the hall to my supervisor's office to blurt out "Can I go to New Orleans?" There are lots of reasons to, but there are a lot of complications. The biggest being income and the second biggest being who would I go with and how would I get there. There is a group fo people from the Athens red cross going. Should I go with them? Should I ask my boss before I have more information? How do I get this information? Why am I acting like I'm not extremely resourceful? Because I am. OK, I'm going to stop being wishy washy and start making some damned phone calls as soon as I finish this.
Here is something I thought about this morning. If decision makers and resource controllers acted a little bit more like news reporters, we'd be a lot better off. I have seen so many reporters, who were down there as soon as the wind stopped blowing and in some cases, even before that. I've seen them get into the boats, help rescue people, and still manage to get the job of reporting done. I've seen them let "refugees" use their satellite phones. I've seen them comfort the hysterical. I've seen them show emotion and compassion. But best of all, they are there. And they have been. For days and days. How did they get there so fast? How is it that reporters and cameramen and cameras and microphones can get there immediately, but the food and water and security forced took four and a half days?
I'm annoyed with Kanye West and his comments. I agree with some of the things he said, but mostly, it was inappropriate, inarticulate and at best, speculation. You can't say something like "President Bush doesn't care about black people." I mean, you can, but aren't there better things to say? More fact-based? More specific? It's awesome when celebrities use their influence to draw attention to important issues. especially controvesial ones. But self-control, facts and eloquence are key to getting a message across and making a statement, instead of just making Mike Meyers look extremely uncomfortable.
I'm surprised Bono hasn't had anything to say yet. Maybe he's respectfully giving room to American stars to do their thing. Maybe he wants to focus on the continuing emergency and crisis of AIDS in Africa. Which is understandable, because it is certainly true that when something like this happens, most charities and such projects take a hit, becuase everyone is giving to Katrina relief work. I need to remind myself of that. Most social justice issues get over shadowed by major tragedy. Between 9/11, the Tsumani and now Katrina, non-profits continue to struggle to overcome their fundraising challenges. Remember your local non profits!
One small word about the Red Cross. I am having a little bit of an issue with giving money to them. See, they got hundreds of millions of dollars for 9/11. And you know what they did with a whole bunch of it? They gave it to the victim's families. They provided "a year of living expenses" to family members of victims and to those injured in the attacks. I think that is a POOR use of that money. That is what insurance and government compensation is for. Granted, this was their decision after they were sharply criticized for planning to use a lot of the money for more "general" Red Cross needs like building up the blood supply and making preperations for a future emergency. They were criticized by donors who wanted money to go DIRECTLY to the victims and families. See here for more info: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/01/31/rec.liberty.fund/
Interestingly, maybe if a couple hundred million had been set aside and invested, there would be all kinds of money available now for the Katrina disaster. Or maybe they would have been better prepared to respond.
Anyway, keep these things in mind when you decide where to donate.
