craigslist: new orleans

Here's a place for people to begin locating each other and offering each other practical help.

I can't even begin to express how absolutely devastating this is to the entire region. This will be a long term clean up and rebuild, and that will be after the losses are tallied and the dead are mourned. Nothing will ever be the same here again, but maybe something good has survived and can re--emerge from the flooded rubble of our beautiful Gulf Coast region.

CNN.com - AP: 50 die in Mississippi - Aug 30, 2005

I don't even know what to say about this storm, it is so big and devastating. It's like watching your childhood home burn down to see all this happening. I have heard from some of my friends, all of them physically okay, though some have, unfortunately, lost much of their possessions to nature.

It will remain to be seen what the final toll is for Katrina. I've got my candle burning tonight and I'm sending out a prayer and love to everyone affected. Been watching it for several days now, from its first landfall on, and she keeps killing. I don't think I've ever seen an American storm this big and hope I don't again.

A Doll That Can Recognize Voices, Identify Objects and Show Emotion - New York Times

OK, so I'll admit it, I'm neurotic.

I never have been truly comfortable with talking dolls, or even ventriloquist dummies. Call it a legacy of "Twilight Zone" and "Magic", there's something of the loa in the responsive toy. Even Furbies make me slightly heebie.

So now there is a doll that is one step closer to Chuckie and his ilk... animatronic, $100 Amazing Amanda, who is even blessed (?) with voice recognition, the better to bond to its child-mother. I suppose that might have a certain charm, for a while. I had a doll when I was a girl that would develop fevers, headaches and belly aches, which had to be treated with plug-ins like a thermometer or a hot water bottle. Early nursing training.

This is supposedly a grand experiment as to whether girls will be as attracted to tech toys as boys. Seems a little lame, in that respect; of course girls are attracted to tech toys, we always have been. But I wonder how many of them are going to be sitting up at night, staring across the room at Amanda, who dozes with her endlessly toddler face in a beam of moonlight.

One day, the child-mother's voice will change... will Amanda give her the saucy retort that is part of her programming, "You don't sound like Mommy" ?

I'm glad I don't have to decide whether or not to buy this for a little girl this Christmas. Hide the knives.

CNN.com - 'Discovery is home' - Aug 9, 2005

What a relief! I think that everyone with any sensibility in America has been holding their breath. So many dreams have been spoilt... isn't it nice when something good finally happens from the potential of tragedy? Miracles and Magic, I tell you. We can still reach for the stars.

CNN.com - 'Discovery is home' - Aug 9, 2005

Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President - New York Times

Of the Many Deaths in Iraq, One Mother's Loss Becomes a Problem for the President - New York Times

So I wonder, Mr. President... can you carry on for three more years ignoring the people? With the specter of grand jury indictments hanging over the entire administration for their roles in the conflagrated conspiracies and deceptive behavior of the past five years, back to and including the 2000 Presidential election, I wonder if he dares. He has not proven in the past to be compassionate, only conservative, and his drivel about being a uniter instead of a divider has proven over and over again to mean he wants others to fall in line with his plans, not that he has any plans for compromise. He is stubborn, thick skulled, thick skinned and often stupid, and has surrounded himself with a coterie of like-minded individuals who are not just Yes-Men, but strong arms in a campaign for Pax Americana.

History will reflect this period, and look upon us depending on the outcomes. I hope that our legacy is not so besmirched by our reluctance for revolution that we are branded as collusive with this mad and despotic leader who took over our country and fooled us into making war.