"Welcome to the Hotel California........"

There are some amazingly unbelievable stories coming out of the Katrina aftermath. A site that is doing a great job of getting some of the more "grass-roots" stories out has been BoingBoing. But it's becoming clear that the incredulity is just beginning and has crossed state borders into the sites of evacuee shelters. In many cases, the victims are finding themselves in prison-like situations. No press allowed, can't cook their own food, no leaving the site - not even to go to church.

FEMA will not allow any of the kitchen facilities in any of the cabins to be used by the occupants due to fire hazards. FEMA will deliver meals to the cabins. The refugees will be given two meals per day by FEMA. They will not be able to cook. In fact, the "host" goes on to explain, some churches had already enquired about whether they could come in on weekends and fix meals for the people staying in their cabin. FEMA won't allow it because there could be a situation where one cabin gets steaks and another gets hot dogs - and... it could cause a riot. It gets worse.

He then precedes to tell us that some churches had already enquired into whether they could send a van or bus on Sundays to pick up any occupants of their cabins who might be interested in attending church. FEMA will not allow this. The occupants of the camp cannot leave the camp for any reason. If they leave the camp they may never return. They will be issued FEMA identification cards and "a sum of money" and they will remain within the camp for the next 5 months. More here.

"We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!"