From reader Joe McElyea in Texas;
My wife Mary and I own a store here in Dallas and we have part time help on sale days like today. This morning I was talking to one of our friends who helps us out, Janis works full time as an assistant to the main pastor of a large church here and we were comparing notes about how our churches were helping the thousands of relief people here in Dallas.
Her comment was astounding, unless you had connections there were so many churches and people turning out to help that church efforts were turned away and they were instructed to please give cash and specific items to meet specific needs. It seems as if every church including our Methodist church is sponsoring a family in a home, we have an extra parsonage. In Janis’ church there is a man who is coordinating with apartment complexes and they are putting people in apartments for up to 18 months rent free. And yesterday one of my sales reps. was telling me about her church furnishing two houses completely for families, this is going on all over North Texas and our clergy is telling us that this will be a long term commitment, not just a quick fix.
It appears that our own poor people might also benefit from this outpouring since food banks have never been so full and clothing drives have filled up available spaces for storage, we know that the needs will never go away but a lot of effort and love have come forth to help at this time.
However I just spoke to a customer who is an attorney, one of his friends has just been appointed as a federal judge in New Orleans and he along with other attorneys are telling us that a major concern is the power structure in Louisiana, mostly it is old time democrats and their friends and buddies are lining up to see how much they can reap off of the rebuilding. I also have a friend who is a social security judge who spent several years in Louisiana and she told me almost verbatim the same thing. Kind of ironic isn’t it?
So, here we are watching the poor people who have been displaced get a hand up, most of them are totally appreciative and it will be interesting to see how they assimilate into our North Texas culture where we have a dynamic black, middle and upper socioeconomic class of people. I am so tired of the media picking out evacuees who are misspending their money, it is their money since they were given the money, and then media guys search to find the unhappy cranky people to put their voices on the air.
The majority of these fine people are thankful, prayerful and moving on the best they can while we stand in line and work our connections to help them.
Good morning Kate. Is there a trackback on this article. I’d be interested in finding out more about his comment re; dynamic middle and upper class. He seems to specify North Texas which to my knowledge excludes Houston where the majority of the evacuees are.
The writer emailed me directly.
This is exactly the insight that Canadian US bashers need to get more access to.
The vast majority of American citizenry are cheerful positive people. This goes doubly for Texans who easily befriended me during the year or so that I lived there.
Post card writer states how the media will focus on those who misspend their Katrina money or engage in other negative things.
This, and America’s most wanted, and Leno’s street interviews are what gullable Canadians see on television.
One sided pictures are distortd pictures. eh? 73s TG
sarge here. too bad its bullcrap miss kate. yer little tidbit is all made up to make people forget who got all the no bid contracts to rebuild NO. it’s about who’s really gona end up holding the property in NO. while it is probably true that some dems may hope no poor people return to NO, and hope to make some money, the democrats rely on their folks to vote for them…thats why nagin is trying to get the people back to re-establish commerce, in before they all go belly up financially and the place is bulldosed after creditors(mostly large national mortage lenders)use the new federal bankruptcy, and later, eminent domain rules to grab the land and make’em some condos. what’s really happening is the bush folks are heavily invested in making NO white, wealthy and republican-thats why bush went on tv to argue against having residents return-poor dear couldn’t hardly remain coherent, but somehow got the point across-NO is bush country. its very karl rove to think to attribute the bush policy motves to the other party. really super fun to watch them try to blame the flood on envromentalists now…fun but very predictable. ever wonder, miss kate how every bush apologist web sight gets floated the same crap on the same day?
PS
sweetie, if ya don’t know our country how come ya keep dishing out crap like ya do? I mean really, who the fuck are you, miss kate? the final anylysis is that you is yourself a american hater, since you are involved directly in PR for those who would effect the destruction of the greatest democratic republic and finest nation on earth. you, my dear, suck @ss, and sarge hates you worse, since you kanukistani should know better. don’t come here to the states any more. you are only welcome with a small minority of deluded doomsday cultists and feebs…and those few who think horse faced anglophiles are hot…fat pasty rejects hoping to hump your leg, even if only via cyberspace.
sarge, here to tell ya, the tide has turned here, and of course, there never was a tide in beaverchopper land. over and out, my kanukistani feeble minded fascii sarge would hope y’all taker up chrochette or stamp collecting ultimately much better on the liver than hating yer own national identiy and yer southern neighbors too
(Pheww>>> stink? Where is “it” from?)
The blogosphere drills down, deeper, deeper, in pursuit of the truth>>> http://powerlineblog.com/
Oops, Never Mind
On Sunday, September 4, Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, La., appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press. He broke down as he told the story of a woman stranded in a nursing home who kept calling her son for help, day after day, until she finally died on September 2, ostensibly because the federal reaction to Hurricane Katrina was too slow. Broussard’s heart-wrenching story was a major moment in the anti-Bush media frenzy that followed the hurricane.
Only it turns out Broussard’s story was untrue. NBC has now issued a correction:
New details and interviews with the son whose mother died in the flood show that the tragedy unfolded from Saturday through Monday, Aug. 29 � not Monday through Friday, Sept. 2 as recounted by Broussard. The owners of the nursing home were indicted Tuesday for the deaths of more than 30 residents, which officials say occurred on Aug. 29.
So the patients at St. Rita nursing home died the same day the hurricane struck New Orleans. The purportedly slow federal response had nothing to do with it.
It’s a little hard to understand how Broussard got his facts so wrong. He didn’t just make a mistake on the date; he told the story in elaborate detail. Only every detail was false:>>>> more
(Sheesh, that stink is still there?)>>>
September 19, 2005
CLIFF MAY:
579. That�s the current death toll in Louisiana from the hurricane and catastrophic flooding. Terrible for the victims, their family, their friends.
But also much less than the 10,000 widely predicted.
And, BTW, much less than the more than 35,000 killed by a heat wave in Europe two summers ago.
You recall the debate that set off about European heartlessness, racism and discrimination? No, neither do I.
Me neither.>>>
http://www.instapundit.com/
sarge searched the NBC website and googles like a mad man but no one knows about the broussard retraction except the rightwing world of blog…nice try sonny
sarge knows that the 40% of NO still under water is where the highest death toll will be , and of course folks is still dying all over, 50 in houston astrodome at least but will not count. its funny thinkin that you boys was making fun of frenchy oldsters dyin in the heat but now you use them froggies to make a few hundred dead darkies seem like a walk in the park