Katrina Help

I stopped at Cosco over lunch and saw pallets of water and food being loaded from donations that they -- like pretty much all stores now -- collect on behalf of the Katrina victims.

I encourage everyone to help, but it's much more effective to give support with money, rather than goods. Think about it, instead of having to pay for transporting the goods you bought at retail, Red Cross can use your donation to buy what's required at wholesale prices close to the place it's actually needed. That doesn't mean you should stop contributing to local foodbanks -- they'll always have people needing the goods, whether it's the poor, homeless or displaced persons from the Gulf.

Give.org can direct you to worthwhile relieve orgs that'll get the best bang for your buck. So go ahead and donate to one of their reccomended Hurricane Katrina Relief Organizations. Personally, I donated through the Rainbow Fund to America's Second Harvest -- I think of it as turning the other cheek (see this BoingBoing reader comment).

Frankly the news from New Orleanse have been surreal since the flooding started. While the local rescuers are working their hearts out, the incompetence exhibited at the federal level is nothing but astounding. Whether it's the "nobody could have anticipated this" President, or the "what convention center?" Homeland Security head Chertoff or "we've taken care of everything" FEMA head Brown, they make you feel like we live in a bannana republic. At least Mayor Nagin says it like it is.

CNN's has a great comparison of the sping out of Washington vs. the real world. And you thought they were in their little world just when it came to Iraq!