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Current News

Man-Made Natural Disasters?
	I agree with the assessment of some folks at Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy who, in an effort to determine what can be done beyond funding relief efforts, are observing that every natural disaster is a man-made disaster. Think about New Orleans a bit and you will see how this is true. Posted: 9/1/05; 6:17:04 PM #

Need is Vast, But So is Outpouring
	Individual and corporate donations to the hurricane relief efforts may top $1 billion. Posted: 9/1/05; 6:14:19 PM #

Waiting for a Leader
	Consistently over the past few years, I have found myself proud of the individuals and nonprofits who respond to a crisis and ashamed of our supposed leaders. In Waiting for a Leader it seems the New York Times feels the same way today. Posted: 9/1/05; 6:12:05 PM #

NOLA-Intel Katrina Wiki
	The best growing compilation of on-the-ground, real time information about what's happening in New Orleans is a classic high leverage nonprofit Internet project. If you want to get some real details, take a look at the NOLA-Intel Post-Katrina Wiki. Posted: 9/1/05; 6:10:22 PM #

Using Online Mapping Tools to Answer Critical Questions

Have you noticed how the major news agencies can't seem to give us the kind of details we want about what's happening in New Orleans? But individual bloggers like Kathryn Cramer and others have been using online mapping tools to answer critical questions: Is the home of my friend under water? What's likely to have happened to the grave of my aunt? Will a landmark that I treasure survive? Posted: 9/1/05; 6:08:05 PM #

A Hurricane of Email Solicitations

Lucy Bernholz captures my feelings about opportunistic disaster positioning in A Hurricane of Email Solicitations. I much prefer it when organizations think of their core competencies and offer help that leverages them, rather than wading into the me-tooism. I mean, United Airlines is sending out solicitations! I would think they have staff with some pretty solid crisis skills to loan out. Posted: 9/1/05; 6:04:36 PM #

Slide Show of Red Cross Shelter
	The Christian Science Monitor has a slide show of the Red Cross shelter in Baton Rouge. It looks like a giant rummage sale with people in it, which is far far better than the images that are starting to emerge from the heart of New Orleans. Posted: 9/1/05; 12:20:46 PM #

Poor People Drowning

The idea that there may be thousands of people dead of drowning because they couldn't afford to leave and they weren't rich enough to live on higher ground like the French Quarter or the Garden District is sickening. In Cuba, they bus every single person out of the area when there is a hurricane coming. Couldn't we have done the same? Must we always respond after the fact? Posted: 9/1/05; 11:15:50 AM #

The Space Where New Orleans Was
	Several times this morning, I was given a creepy reminder of the ultimate physicality of the Internet. There is a kind of empty space on the net where the servers that were located in New Orleans were. Posted: 9/1/05; 11:11:25 AM #