Having a major natural disaster come at a time when nurses are in short supply (and with no let up in sight) is poor planning. But alas, the natural cycles of the Earth do not wait for lowly humans to solve their problems. Many of the nurses working in the region, however, and those who have come to assist, have much to report on health conditions, the extreme stress they are working under, and their committment to assisting those in need.

Medscape has a wonderful ongoing blog, of nurses telling their own stories of working in Gulf states. Tune in to get a real first person look at the conditions down there, at least from the perspective of health and medical concerns. Maybe if you’re so motivated, you might even decide to lend a helping hand.

Imagine that, a nasty editorial directed to our dear beloved president, who couldn’t be bothered to leave Crawford, TX, and make sure that preparations were being made for a major natural diaster. He also couldn’t be disturbed until two days after it was all over. And VP Cheney–anybody seen Cheney? He felt that his Wyoming vacation was far too important to interrupt. Just as well, who needed to see his ugly face anyway.

But back to the task at hand, it seems that the people of Louisiana are not falling for the sound-bytes, the idiotic pep talk, and the flowery nonsensical gibberish flowing from the mouth of the Bushies and FEMA. The Times-Picayune has written an open letter to the president, basically telling him that he is inept and responsible for the preventable death of many people. Sadly, it is the truth.

11:15 A.M. – (AP): Louisiana’s largest newspaper is lashing out at the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

The letter says “No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced.”

If you’ve been separated from a beloved pet, or would like to help people find their pets, check out Petfinder.com. It is an extemely comprehensive website, one stop shopping so to speak.