Fighting Words news

The 'toon I did on New Orleans has been included in a couple of hurricane relief publications:

The Webcomics Hurricane Relief Telethon Book, $11.95 (left). A collection of over 100 comics from The Webcomics Hurricane Relief Telethon. All proceeds from the sales of this compilation will go to the Red Cross to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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Also, The Baton Rouge Cartoonists Society has done a Hurricane Relief Anthology that debuted at SPX. Check back to this post; I'll update when I get concrete ordering information.

UPDATE: get the BRCS Relief Anthology here. Ten bucks well spent.

Rita

Interesting how when a hurrcane destroys New Orleans, it takes Bush 4 days to get out of his lawn chair in Crawford and go do a flyover. But when a hurricane "messes with Texas," Flightsuit Boy is there on the ground the NEXT DAY.

Of course, it probably has more to do with timing and political damage-control re: the Katrina response... but who cares. Shouldn't we be long past making excuses for this idiot?

Google joke

Go to Google, type in the word "Failure," and click on "I'm feeling lucky"...

Good to see

Just so I don't leave you on the downer note of the last post...

Kermit's playing again, seen here at a venue in Houston (via NOLA.com):

The Rove M.O.

How do we know that ol' Turd Blossum's in charge of the New Orleans situation now? Confronted with a crisis where the administration initially responded with unparalleled incompetence, Rove tries to repair the political damage by having Bush give a nice little speech in an area with a backdrop laden with powerful imagery. Of course, they have neither the ability nor the intent to actually follow through with their promises, and instead Roviavelli simply retreats to what he does best, deflecting attention by smearing a political opponent.

It has been said many times: these people do not govern, they only campaign. The only question is whether America will fall for it yet again.

Hopefully, not this time.

Webcomic Telethon

The first relief project that I'm participating in is up and running, an online "Webcomic Telethon" run by Blank Label Comics. The site is updating with a new cartoon every 20 minutes, through Thursday. Most of the cartoons relate to Katrina in some fashion; the best one I've seen so far is by Tom Stiglich.

So far, the donation totals are way beyond what I thought something like this would bring in. Great job, guys!


UPDATE: here's another good one from Eric F. Myers.

UPDATE II: ...and another one that I like, "Side Order" by Brian Hardison.

UPDATE III: Looks like they're going to extend it through Saturday now... donation total is up to $27, 135!

9/12/05 Cartoon

This one was a rather personal one for me. As I've written before, I lived in New Orleans for 3 years or so when I was in law school (using the term "in law school" loosely), and I really came of age when I was living there. I grew up in Seattle, where people tend to be pretty uptight, either due to the weather or to the pressures of adhering to the latest moronic yuppie trend. I'd never before experienced a place with an atmosphere like New Orleans, where a person finds it hard to do anything but LIVE and BE THEMSELVES. Schedules and "to-do" lists lose their importance. During the work week, people in the downtown business district don't rush around with pained looks on their faces. "Going out" doesn't mean putting on designer clothes and going to some silly dance club to interact with superficial people, and it sure as hell isn't limited to Friday and Saturday nights.

It is a place that compels you to just relax and live "honestly," for better or for worse. It isn't the healthiest place in the world to live... instead of a health-food store on every corner, there is a greasy Po-Boy shop or a bar. "Liquor stores" are basically... everywhere; any place that sells goods of any kind probably also sells booze. And they're often open 24 hours a day, like many of the bars.

Life there just flows. And I loved it.

This 'toon is slated to be included in several hurricane relief projects, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross. I'll post some links once they are confirmed.

Southern racism...

... has once again raised its ugly but ever-present head, as many in the white upper-crust claim they don't want to live with the area's black poor anymore. I had already formed this impression based on some emails I've received from the area, and it has been reinforced by articles like this one from the Wall Street Journal. This O'Dwyer character is a lawyer at the firm at which I used to work.

They seem to have forgotten that New Orleans' economy depends on tourism, and that the area's unique culture is what makes it a place people want to visit. And that we don't live in the nineteenth century anymore.

More NOLA Stories...

Three Duke University sophomores drove to New Orleans, posed as journalists, and smuggled out seven of the city's residents who weren't receiving help from authorities. (thanks Vic for the link)

Slowpoke

Jen Sorensen has a great 'toon this week, which uses the Katrina disaster to illustrate how so many Bush policies are just inherently farcical.

WWOZ

I know there's a lot of places you should donate first, i.e. organizations trying to help out people in need. But if you have the means, and you appreciate this kind of thing, THIS is what New Orleans is all about, for me.

It looks like they're back on the air, too.

Issues...

The Nagin interview is here, if you haven't heard it (via Atrios).

I have to believe that as bleak as things look down there, some good will come of it nationally. Issues are bubbling to the surface, that seemingly would not have been openly discussed otherwise.

Things are looking a lot rougher locally, though. I have been in indirect contact with some friends in the law enforcement community down there, and it sounds like there's a lot of anger flowing in all directions. It's going to take a lot of time to heal these wounds.

However, another friend (not a cop) is still in New Orleans, and is still out of contact. These are the things that need to remain front and center for the moment.


UPDATE: That friend is O.K. He got his family out to Houston, and just hadn't checked in with my other buddies down there.

Bush's Fault

STILL no help there. No troops. No buses. No trucks with food. People dying. Corpses. Anarchy. Rapes. Explosions now. Fires in the Quarter. Everything's still flooded. Disease coming. 20,000 evacuees still in the convention center. STILL no help.

No metropolitan police force in the country, of proportional size, could handle this. This is WORSE than stuff you see in other countries. Louisiana is still in the union, right? This isn't a foreign country we're giving AIDE to, right?

The violence is not unique to New Orleans, or to a city with a lot of poor people, or to a city with a lot of black people. This would happen in ANY city that didn't get the help it needed from the federal government. People go into survival mode.

We're getting to a point where the responsibility falls completely on Bush's shoulders, as Commander-in-Chief. Every death and rape beyond this point is DIRECTLY ON HIS HEAD, and Mayor Ray Nagin said as much in an interview with WWL-Radio. Or it's on Kathleen Blanco's head, but last I heard the President's authority trumps the Governor of Louisiana's. (Ray Nagin's my new hero, by the way... you HAVE to hear this interview. I'll post a link if I can find it.)

This isn't a "conspiracy theory." This is completely aside from any "political" arguments about Global Warming or the "invisible hand" of capitalism or whatever. Those will come later. This has nothing to do with a difference of opinion on Social Security or flag burning or prayer in school or John Roberts.

It's just his fault now. And we should be ashamed of him.

Two of my Aikido buddies are cops in the area, and I would bet that they are there now, with the rest of the police who are desperately trying to hold the city together on their own. Both are veterans of American wars. If they die now, their deaths will be completely on Bush's head.

As Nagin said, if he doesn't answer for it right now, at least he'll have to answer for in the next life. One way or another, some good WILL come of this.

More places YOU can help

Billmon has a really well-done list.


Please note especially the Humane Society... not to diminish the human toll, but just because there are always a TON of great pets who were "rescues" down there, including my boy:

Yes, HERE'S where the military is...

There are going to be a lot of angry questions asked in the coming weeks, and many people are already asking them. As soon as I can unglue myself from the television, watching my favorite place in the world get destroyed, I'll get into this too.

Putting the issues of "Global Warming" and "wealth disparities" on hold for a moment, here's a place to start, since it is IMMEDIATELY apparent:

At least one source has the total number of Mississippi and Louisiana Reserves and Guardsmen who could be helping their own people at home right now at 8,902.