The Disaster in New Orleans and other delayed posts

I haven't posted in awhile so I have several stories to mention.

I was hoping to do more reading into what has happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina went through, but I haven't had time. From what I've heard it sounds like the government at all levels failed the people of the Gulf coast. It seems like if you're in a major disaster, expecially if you are considered political unimportant by the elite, watch out, because you may be on your own for awhile. I plan to look into how the results and response to Katrina and Hurricane Floyd in eastern North Carolina compare - has disaster relief gotten worse, or did the Clinton Administration and the State government allow poor and working class people to die needlessly here too?

Now there are Blackwater mercenaries in New Orleans and civil rights are or were suspended (I doubt a shoot to kill policy encourages respect for the lives and rights of any citizens caught in the open). I was surprised that national political figures would talk of abondoning a great and historic city like New Orleans. New Orleans has problems, since it is below sea level and on the coast, but we have always rebuilt our large cities after disasters and New Orleans could be made safer. If New Orleans residents want to rebuild, they should be allowed to and helped. Also, I have seen news articles about the affects of pathogens in the floodwaters and air pollution, but what about all of the poisons released by the flood? After all, the lower Mississippi and other affected areas are already dangerously contaminated in places by carcinogens from the chemical and oil industries. What will this do to the natural ecosystem? I have given to the Red Cross for disaster relief, but there is also an issue here (and with Pat Robertson's charity even more so).

Hopefully I will have time to write something more substantive later on.

I think an article in the Durham section of the Herald-Sun today said that ARAMARK was among the companies possibly violating Durham County's living wage law (by not releasing their payroll records to allow verification of compliance). This reminds me of the many payroll problems reported by ARAMARK workers at UNC-CH (see article in the July 2005 edition of Alliance!).