This time it's personal

I disagreed all along with sending our troops into Iraq. Now my 20-year-old cousin is there, an Air Force ground vehicle mechanic working for the Army, helping uparmor convoy and patrol Humvees against IEDs. She'll be flown from base to base all around Iraq, but will not spend any time in Baghdad.

I was the last member of our family to see her before she left on Tuesday. I think I may have cracked a couple of her ribs when I hugged her goodbye. I'm really looking forward to hugging her hello in February. More than she knows, most likely.

They all look alike, right?

In yet another stunning coup for international relations, a New York City firefighter yesterday attacked a man running a newsstand because the man "looked like al-Qaeda." Of course, I'm sure there are lots of al-Qaeda members from Bangladesh. This, after Bangladesh donated $1 million in relief aid for Hurricane Katrina. As if Bangladesh has enough spare cash lying around to be profligate. Gratitude, indeed.

Four years ago today

Four years ago today, I got to evacuate my Pennsylvania Avenue office and walk for several hours to Bethesda. My building was on the possible flight path of Flight 93, the plane that was shot down in Pennsylvania. (Despite what the administration and recent films may tell you, I still don't think the passengers brought that plane down.) On my trek home, I looked back and saw the smoke rising from the Pentagon. Everything was unearthly quiet, except for the fighter jets and occasional helicopter overhead, all of which made everyone look up and cringe slightly. The mass pedestrian exodus from the nation's capital was something to behold. It was also something to behold the general level of civility, which is generally unheard of in these parts, but that is another post. Suffice to say that I was never happier to see the people I loved than when I finally arrived in Bethesda.

There's probably a lot more I could ramble about regarding 9/11 right now. One of the questions would be to ponder "what have we learned since then?". However, given the seemingly unending conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with recent events along the Gulf Coast and the American government's demonstrated ineptitude, I'd say the answer to that question would be: "Very little."

Turned tables

I'll admit that in the past I've complained about the conspicuous lack of assistance offered to the United States when natural disasters have befallen us. However, I cannot do that this time, I'm pleased to say.

According to a State Department spokesman, 94 countries and international organizations have so far offered aid to the United States in light of the tragedy along the Gulf Coast. Here is its partial list of nations from which the United States has received support:

• Afghanistan: $100,000
  
• Armenia: $100,000
  
• Australia: $7.6 million
  
• Azerbaijan: $500,000
  
• Bahamas: $50,000
  
• Bahrain: $5 million
  
• Bangladesh: $1 million
  
• Belgium: Medical/logistics teams to Red Cross
  
• Canada: 2 helicopters, 32-person rescue team, Air Canada evacuation flights, medical supplies
  
• China: $5.1 million cash and relief supplies
  
• Djibouti: $50,000
  
• Finland: 3 logisticians to Red Cross
  
• France: Tents, tarps, Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), water treatment supplies
  
• Gabon: $500,000
  
• Georgia: $50,000
  
• Germany: MREs and high speed pumps
  
• Greece: Cruise ships, private offer of an International Committee of the Red Cross Web-based tracing system
  
• India: $5 million
  
• Israel: Tents, first aid kits, baby formula
  
• Italy: Generators, water pumps/purifiers, tents, medical supplies
  
• Japan: $1 million cash, generators, tents, blankets, bottled water
  
• Kuwait: $400 million in oil, $100 million cash
  
• Maldives: $25,000 cash
  
• Mexico: Bedding, MREs, baby care items, personal hygiene kits
  
• NATO: Coordinating European assistance offers
  
• Norway: $1.54 million in relief supplies
  
• Organization of American States: $25,000 cash
  
• Qatar: $100 million cash
  
• Republic of Korea: $30 million cash and in-kind donations
  
• Saudi Arabia: $255 million from Aramco
  
• Singapore: 3 helicopters
  
• Sri Lanka: $25,000 cash
  
• Taiwan: $2 million cash, medical supplies
  
• Thailand: Large amounts of food
  
• United Arab Emirates: $100 million cash
  
• United Kingdom: MREs
  
• U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team and logistics support
  
• U.N. World Health Organization: Public health officers and logisticians
  
• Venezuela: Up to $1 million to Red Cross

The larger, Western countries I can understand—they can afford to give assistance. But Djibouti? Gabon?

I'm not from Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama, and I've never been to New Orleans. However, I still want to say thank you. Although I hope you never need it, I hope the United States can be of similar assistance to you some day.

FEMA: No photos of the dead

So FEMA has decreed that there should be no photos of the dead being recovered in New Orleans. The reason stated is to ensure that the recovery is "being treated with dignity and the utmost respect." Part of me believes that. The other, considerably more cynical part of me believes that the Feds are trying to spin whatever they can from their botched response to the hurricane thus far.

They managed to prohibit access to the photos of the dead coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan for the most part. However, thanks to The Memory Hole, there are some photos from Dover AFB. No individual soldiers are identified in any of the pictures. In fact, I think it pays them more homage than covering it up. If you're going to send them into harm's way, you should be prepared to look at the results. I can direct you to much more graphic results from the war if you'd like, but I'd rather not post the links here. Leave me a comment if you want more information.

Not that I particularly want to see pictures of dead people in New Orleans, but I think FEMA's over-reaching if it thinks they can completely control media access to the situation. After all, the media was there for the entire disaster, unlike FEMA. In fact, members of the media were more immediately helpful there than FEMA or the Feds ever were. Clearly the government just didn't quite grasp the enormity of the situation. For an example of federal cluelessness, check out Anderson Cooper's encounter with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (you'll need QuickTime to view this—even if you can't see it, listen to the sound).

If you want to help, I suggest donating to the Mennonite Disaster Service. They have the lowest administrative costs I've seen—your donation goes to purchase necessary supplies, and the people who respond to the event are volunteers. I'm not particularly religious, so it's not exactly typical for me to advocate donating to a religious charity. However, they don't proselytize when they go out in the field—they go in and make a difference.

Ewwww

Vain individual that I am, I just checked my StatCounter log, only to find that someone got here via a search for "nipple enlargement." I sincerely hope he/she was just searching for it for the shock value.

«shudder»