Katrina FAQ's

If you're in (or hear from folks) the area affected by Hurricane Katrina, here's a link for your website: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has posted a frequently asked questions page on disaster assistance. There's also one for people with disabilities.

Sadly, I looked in vain for the answer to this question: why are the usual list of big contributers to the Bush campaign, many of the same companies who also received billions as a part of the rebuilding of Iraq, being given no bid contracts with no questions asked, rather than first at the very least trying to find local Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama-based contractors, whose businesses and workers have been devistated and need to find a way to start making money, to do the rebuilding work?

The conservative Jacksonville, NC Daily News asks: what about local and state officials and the people of New Orleans? Is the federal vision their vision? What if they just want it repaired, and then reshape it the way they want? And, as you might expect, the more liberal Washington Post quotes labor leaders with a similar viewpoint but for completely different reasons. The Post also has an excellent blog with constant updates on the relief fundraising efforts around America's Capitol.