While some may argue that this is not directly related to the main focus of the blog, I thought it was important to get the word out on ways to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. My hometown of Lake Charles (in the southwest part of Louisiana) was completely unscathed, but folks in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas, as well as the Mississippi and Alabama coasts, will be dealing with the effects of this storm for some time to come ( I saw on the news this morning that New Orleans could be without power for 4-6 weeks). Some places you can go to donate:
The Red Cross (of course)
The Salvation Army
Catholic Charities
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has published a very thorough list of aid organizations collecting funds for hurrican victims, also.
We'll certainly want to discuss the relationship between climate change and the increasing frequency of storms like this, but I think that's for another day. For now, let's all do what we can to help these folks out. If you know of other ways to help, please let us all know in the comments.
Alex Steffan at WorldChanging has posted "A Love Note to New Orleans." As someone who's spent quite a bit of time there, I agree that the Cresent City is unique in that it demands a complex response from anyone who knows it. It's mystical, romantic, haunting, and, at times, incredibly ugly. Yet, it's hard to imagine not falling in love with the place.
Technorati tags: Katrina, hurricane, donations, aid, New Orleans
