Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Some Hurricane Katrina victims are hoping a newspaper ad keeps them in front of Congress during the holidays. They've raised more than $10,000 to buy an ad in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. The ad is called "A message from homeless New Orleanians." It says many storm victims have lived like refugees in their own country. It also says they're still waiting for Congress to spearhead the rebuilding of flood protection in New Orleans. One resident said the ad should remind lawmakers that many New Orleans area residents won't be able to go home for Christmas. Others...

With jazz music, prayer and offerings to the gods, hundreds of Hurricane Katrina survivors on Saturday demanded the government move faster to rebuild the city and provide evacuees with more disaster assistance. Shouting "We're Back," protesters said they feared the city's poor would be shut out of reconstruction after being dispersed far across the United States since the storm. City officials estimate more than 300,000 New Orleans residents have yet to return since Katrina flooded the city, reducing entire neighborhoods to a rubble-strewn wasteland. In one of the largest rallies in New Orleans since the hurricane, survivors marched to City...