I Would be Remiss...(plus, a call for PCF)

...if I didn't make mention of the Hurricane Katrina Aftermath. Echoing Pat's sentiment, I am glued to reports of the tragedy, and the individual personal stories of lives affected. It is mind-blowing, simply mind-blowing; and I thank God for NPR as a source of information.

My personal choices for donation this time around: The Red Cross and the Humane Society.

Also, a personal grief I feel compelled to bring into the light...I think I made a post on this sometime shortly following last Nov.'s election, but could not locate it in a quick check of the archives. So many people of such wonderful character and generous spirit donated far more money than they ever could have imagined in an attempt to remove George W. Bush from office. Then followed a bit of cruel irony that would be tough to top even in imagination. Those individuals, with depleted charity pockets, were then neeeded more than ever to contribute to various organizations attempting to fend off assaults by the president on all they hold dear: environment, the poor, worker rights, etc. But the issue is certainly not limited to one from a liberal perspective. From both sides of the political aisle, consider how much money is spent (new records with each election) in an attempt to outspend the other side, trying to buy the election in an an act of almost purest non-democracy, and largely with these large sums of money mostly canceling each other out. Imagine if the $500-some-odd million contributed to the presidential election alone could instead be used to fund tsunami or hurricane relief efforts (not to mention aid to Africa, school funding, etc. etc. etc.). Seems win-win (in terms of money better spent AND cleaning up the election process a bit); but of course a very few people with far too much money would stand to lose a bit of their influence on the process; and that in itself is the cause of the majority of our problems these days.