Oh Katrina!

I've been getting myself into trouble and commenting on a number of blogs about the relief effort that is happening in the USA. It seems beyond belief the complete mess they are making of it.This guy says it all, so much more eloquently than I can manage.
I also think it's a bit of a mistake to throw money at the problem. I just dont trust that my money would get to the right place. Everybody seems to think the Red Cross is a good bet. My impressions of the Red Cross are based on this; When the East Timor humanitarian crisis was happening, the Red Cross people were driving around in brand new Mercedes Benz (as were the United Nations people I might add) and staying at the only decent digs left in Dili, while the people were trying to survive sheltering under bits of corrugated iron. I know this for a fact. The company I used to work was the only shipping line in and out of East Timor (from Darwin in Australia) for some months. We shipped everything - food, cars, tanks, you name it. I dont want my money going into "administration". I want it to help people, practically. I'm not sure if the Salvos are as dominant a force as they are in Australia, but I would definitely give my money to them in preference to anyone else.