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It's sobering to realize how black is the information hole around New Orleans right now. Hurricane Katrina. Cell towers down and powerless. Land lines inoperative. We have isolated little spotlights from CNN and Fox News, but they sent their teams to some downtown hotels, same as any corporate traveler, so these reports have focused on downtown. It's a lot like reporting from Baghdad hotels about the invasion of Iraq. N.O. is huge and dense. So check out the Times-Picayune's blog for the real dope. They deserve a Pulitzer for getting the information out to those of us really needing it. They're assembling reports there from all over the city. I'm a New Orleans ex-patriate, and right now I'm awaiting here in Austin the arrival of some family refugees who made it out, and are headed to live with us for... who knows how long. The power's going to be off for a month, and you can't get a drink of water. On that blog, and nowhere else really, I've been able to get some glimmer of info about my relatives' and friends' neighborhoods.