Tracking the narrative

Coverage of the Katarina aftermath was rich with the sense of chaos -- refugees looting stores, killing one another in the stadium and other shelters, etc. Now it turns out that the violence was exaggerated:

The vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees — mass murders, rapes and beatings — have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law-enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know.

Conditions were as terrible as reported, supplies just as low, help as far from arriving; but strangely, the people weren't falling upon each other as seemed to be so quickly circulated. Make sure that you don't buy into the narrative that the victims here are to blame for their suffering or unworthy of a better outcome -- it's just part of the smokescreen attempt to cover for massive official failure.

(via rc3.org)