Dr. Robert

Folks are coming together and doing their part to raise money for relief. People on Soulstrut are auctioning some amazing records, with all profits going to hurricane victims. They've raised over $7000 already. Emil is donating any and all money raised last night TONIGHT (Philly area people better represent!) at his DJ gig. Schools around the country are doing "shoebox drives." The Red Cross has raised almost $20 million. People are opening their homes. Celebrities are donating millions out of their pockets. Home Depot is matching in-store donations up to $1 million. Shit, even evil corporate behomoth Walmart donated $17 mil.

What about Big Oil? Exxon alone banked over a $7.6 billion profit in the last fiscal quarter. So how much did Exxon pledge so far? A whopping $2 million. Two. Million. That's the same amount as the combined gifts of Diddy and Jay Z, individuals, who--despite considerable success (and some posturing) as rap artists and executives--have never seen close to $7 billion between the two of them. Chevron donated a comparatively large $5 million, which (assuming their quarterly profits are also in the $7 billion dollar range) is about 1/15th of what these guys are profiting in a single day.

But they've got to repair their refineries and rigs which took extensive damage! You cry, fictional Big Oil apologist reader. It's all insured, and with the profits these companies are bringing in with the current oil and gas prices, they'll have plenty of loot (if perhaps not quite enough actual oil) to burn.

Step the fuck up Big Oil! Hell, America is fighting a war or two around the world in order to insure your continued profitability (thus depleting the precautions, manpower and resources we have here at home in order to alleviate this disaster,) the least you could do is give more than a (pretty sorry) token back.

Update: Exxon has generously offered to up their donation to $7 million, which my rudimentary math figures to be about 1/12th of the amount of profits they'll take in TODAY (and that's not taking into account that profits have undoubtedly gone up since the hurricane. Misers.

Random Katrina Related Thoughts:

• The government (such as it is) needs to let folks loot. Rescue and evacuate everybody you can. Property loss should not be a priority.
• People criticizing looters on principal need to think long and hard about what they'd do in a lawless infrastructure-less situation. You take what you need, then you take what you can and hope it comes in handy.
• Air Force 1s are unlikely to come in handy when you're thigh-deep in filthy, toxic flood-waters.
• There's a fine line between "looting" and "finding." That line is called racism.
• New Orleans was dangerous and scary as Hell before this storm. The fact that gunshots are popping off and vicious crimes are being committed, in many ways, is just another night in the NOLA.
• That said, people that are shooting at rescue workers are sick and misguided.
• That said, N.O. police force (widely reported to be looting and marauding themselves) is the most corrupt big city police force in the country and has been forever. You can't blame folks for not trusing them.
• Finally, one more time for the deaf and blind; the fact that individuals are sacrificing and donating to help Katrina victims is heart-warming, the fact that corporations (to varying degrees) are stepping up and donating is reassuring, the fact that our government (who take half my damn paycheck in taxes every two weeks) is unable to take care of this shit on their own and must depend upon what President Bush calls the "Armies of Compassion," because they're pouring hundreds of billions in money and manpower and equipment into an unjust war no-one wants, is sickening.