Broadsheet

The state's representatives have come up with a request for $250 billion in federal reconstruction funds for Louisiana alone -- more than $50,000 per person in the state. This money would come on top of payouts from businesses, national charities and insurers. And it would come on top of the $62.3 billion that Congress has already appropriated for emergency relief.

Like looters who seize six televisions when their homes have room for only two, the Louisiana legislators are out to grab more federal cash than they could possibly spend usefully.

Rather than grappling with the lessons of Katrina, Louisiana's representatives are demanding an astonishing $40 billion worth of Corps of Engineers projects in their state. That is 16 times more than the Corps says it would need to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane.

Kidman, who lived near Washington for a few years when she was a young girl, said this is her first time back to the area since she was 3. The shooting will mark her first visit to Baltimore, and she said friends urged her to be sure to eat some crabs while in the area.

Unfortunately, the actress said, her schedule will keep her too busy to enjoy much more of what the city has to offer.

"But," she promised, "I'll be out and about."

11:03 Opening with a monologue. “I am unfettered, I am free, no ankle bracelets.” Explains that all producers and staff have fake ankle bracelets, which comes off more uncomfortable than funny.

11:24 Martha is teaching Marcia (Cross) to scramble eggs. Watching the two of them furiously beat yolks is strangely erotic.

11:25 Martha, Marcia. Marcia, Martha. MarciaMarcia, MarthaMartha.

11:26 Martha demonstrates some strange egg cup technique, which strikes us as far too complicated for any meal served before 7pm. “You’re impressive!” laughs Marcia. “Yes, I’m very impressive,” concurs Martha.

11:38 Time for Italian card games. Martha sits at a card table, covered with a plastic cloth, and plays with some old men. It’s the most awkward thing we’ve ever seen.

11:39 “I grew up next door to a bunch of Italians,” she notes, which gives her about as much cred as a hipster who rents in Astoria.

U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian Terry Conger said Tuesday that Snowball, a small white dog taken by police Thursday from a sobbing little boy as he boarded a bus at the Superdome, has been located at the Gonzalez shelter and will be reunited with his owner.

All we're hearing about is the people situation--obviously horrific, but what about all of those pets, zoo and aquarium animals who were left (or forced to be left like Snowball)? Go to the following websites to help the animal community:

1) The Lincoln Park Zoo is coordinating efforts: To make a donation, people can visit the Lincoln Park Zoo web site and click on hurricane relief, or mail a check, made out to The Lincoln Park Zoological Society, and send it to: Lincoln Park Zoo, P.O. Box 14903, Chicago IL 60614, Attention: Hurricane Katrina Relief. All donations will be channeled directly to aid the zoo [The Audubon Zoo]and aquarium and their staff members in New Orleans. The Executive Committee of the AZA Board of Directors will handle the distribution of these funds.

2) The Humane Society of the United States

My fellow Americans, it has never been my policy to lie to you, neither to exagerate the dangers we face, nor to minimize the challenges that lay before us. Two days ago, with almost biblical force, the Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, including Mississippi and Lousiana. The damage was no less than what a war would have caused - a millon are left homeless, and millions without power and the other sinews of modern life.

As importantly the oil wells and refineries are out of commission. The port of New Orleans, vital for bringing goods in and out of the United States, is out of commission. This is a disaster which has hit in one place, but which reaches out to the rest of the nation, and indeed the world.

In the wake of September 11th, Americans pulled together to face the crisis, and willingly set their personal interests aside to meet the dangers we faced then. I am going to ask them to do the same now, so that a temporary disruption does not grow out of proportion. I ask all Americans to act out of restraint and be mindful of what they use, so that there will be enough to support the vital reconstruction effort that we are about to embark upon.

Therefore, I am taking the following steps immediately, and will follow with others shortly:

"At the front of the line, the weary refugees waded through ankle-deep water, grabbed a bottle of water from state troopers and happily hopped on buses that would deliver them from the horrendous conditions of the Superdome.

At the back end of the line, people jammed against police barricades in the rain. Refugees passed out and had to be lifted hand-over-hand overhead to medics. Pets were not allowed on the bus, and when a police officer confiscated a little boy's dog, the child cried until he vomited. 'Snowball, snowball,' he cried."

"In a lot of ways, we're functioning as if we were in a developing country at this point," said Dr. Kiersta Kurtz-Burke, a physician at the hospital, reached yesterday on one of its few working land lines."We're doing the best we can, but it's a new experience."